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DR DONALD S FREDRICKSON, DIRECTOR 
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 
BETHESD A md 20014 
DEAR DR FREDRICKSON 
THIS STATEMENT REFLECTS THE VIE*S OF THOSE ATTENDING THE WORKSHOP ON 
GENETIC ENGINERRING HELD ON AUGUST 31, 1976 IN ANGERS, FRANCE AT THE 
FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PLANT PATHOGENIC BACTERIA, WE ARE 
VERY MUCH IN FAVOR OF THE CHANGES IN THE PROPOSED REVISED NIH 
GUIDELINES PUBLISHED ON JULY 28, 1978. THESE REVISIONS WILL MAKE IT 
POSSIBLE TO PURSUE MANY VALUABLE AND INTERESTING LINES OF RESEARCH ON 
PLANT PATHOGENIC BACTERIA THAT WE'RE HERETOFORE FORBIDDEN, WE 
ANTICIPATE NO DANGER ARISING FROM THE ALLOWED RECOMBINANT DN A 
EXPERIMENTS IN OUR DISCIPLINE, 
ONE MINOR SUGGESTION WAS RAISED AT OUR WORKSHOP THAT WE SUBMIT FOR YOUR 
CONSIDERATION, ON THE LIST OF EXEMPTED ORGANISMS THAT EXCHANGE ON A WITH 
E, COL I , AGROBACTERIUM TUMEF AC I ENS IS LISTED BY GENUS AND SPECIES, 
BECAUSE THE MAJOR TAXONOMIC CRITERION FOR THE SPECIES OF THIS GENUS IS 
A PLASMID-BORNE TRaIT, THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE SEVERAL 
AGROBACTERIUM SPECIES IS NOT A MEANINGFUL ONE, WE SUGGEST THAT THE 
ORGANISM BE LISTED AS AGROBACTERIUM SPP FOR THIS REASON, 
THE MAJOR POINT OF DISCUSSION AT OUR WORKSHOP WAS THE TECHNIQUE FOR 
GENETIC ENGINEERING EXPERIMENTS AIMED AT CROP IMPROVEMENTS, IT SEEMS 
CLEAR NOW THAT SUCH EXPERIMENTS ARE TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE BY USING THE 
AGROBACTERIUM T1 PLASMID AS A VECTOR FOR INSERTION OF DESIRABLE GENETIC 
INFORMATION INTO DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANT CELLS. THE MAJOR OBSTACLE TO SUCH 
EXPERIMENTATION UNFORTUNATELY is THE RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED EVEN BY THESE 
REVISED NIH GUIDELINES THERE HAS BEEN NO REVISION THAT ADDRESSES THE 
ISSUES PRESENTED BY THESE EXPERIMENTS, THE MANIPULATIONS REQUIRED 
INCLUDE THE JOINING OF THE DESIRABLE DNA (PRESUMABLY PLANT DN A ) TO TI 
plasmid DNA IN vitro, transformation OF agrobacterium tumefaciens WITH 
SUCH AND ENGINEERED PLASMID AND TRANSFORMATION BY AGROBACTERIUM OF 
PLANT CELLS, SOME OF WHICH WILL ACQUIRE THE DESIRED DNA, THERE ARE IN 
OUR VIEW TWO POSSIBLE MEANS BY WHICH THESE EXPERIMENTS, PRESENTLY 
EXCLUDED BY THE GUIDELINES COULD BE BROUGHT INTO HARMONY WITH THEM j 
1, LICENSING OF THE TI PLASMID AND A, TUMEFACIENS AS AN APPROVED HV1 
SYSTEM FGR THE PURPOSE OF THIS TYPE OF EXPERIMENT OR 
2, RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT THE TI PLASMID IS A NATURAL EXCHANGER 
WITH DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANT DNA, AND EXCLUSION FROM THE GUIDELINES OF DNA 
recombinants between THE TWO, 
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