COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY OF NEW JERSEY 
Donald S. Frederickson, M.D. 
Director 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 
Dear Dr. Frederickson: 
We have reviewed the DHEW-NIH proposed revised guidelines covering 
recombinant DNA research. We are pleased with revisions in the new 
guidelines and the saltatory effect they will have on basic research in 
this field. The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee has done a commendable 
job in integrating the concern for public safety and the complexities of 
the scientific issues involved into their evaluation. 
In particular, we note the beneficial effect that the freedom of 
research in areas of recombinant DNA involving hosts that ordinarily ex- 
change DNA will have. This freedom reflects an increasing awareness of 
the low level of risk involved in these types of experiments, as documented 
in the report. By eliminating some of the bureaucratic "red-tape” required 
to perform these experiments, we can expect more rapid developments in this 
In addition, we applaud the concept of "flexibility" in containment 
procedures that have been introduced in the proposed guidelines. It is 
our hope that the risks of the types of experiments now requiring higher 
levels of containment will receive the same types of review and reevalua- 
tion that those at the PI level have received, and that the NIH will revise 
the guidelines for these types of experiments in the near future, where ap- 
propriate. 
RUTGERS MEDICAL SCHOOL 
University Heights 
Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 
Department of Microbiology 
September 12, 1978 
field. 
Sincerely 
acj 
[A-127] 
