RECOMMENDATIONS: 
Page 4 
Coalition 
1. Central Review : The two-level review of recombinant DNA activities 
should continue. Review by local biohazard committees 
should be followed by the NIH Office of Recombinant DNA 
Activities (ORDA) .* It has been claimed that review by 
ORDA entails great delays. This suggests either that the 
ORDA machinery is unnecessarily inefficient or that the 
number of requests is too great to be controlled effective- 
ly. The volume of recombinant DNA projects needs to be re- 
viewed by a reconstituted advisory committee. Given the 
uncertainties that surround the biological Implications of 
much of the work in this field, it is essential that the 
volume of work be kept within manageable limits . 
2. Composition of Institutional Biohazards Committees (IBC's): IBC's 
should include substantial (not token) representation of 
non-professional laboratory personnel and local communities. 
Nominations of these persons should come directly from their 
constituencies and not from local institutions. 
III. PA.oceduA.e6 £oa Watvtng PAohtbttZoni on ConitAuctton ofa CeAtcu.n Recom- 
binant VNA'a, LaAge-ScaZe ExpenZmenti , and VeltbeAate Release, tnt'o 
the EnvtAoment ofi OAgantimi Contcu.vu.ng Recombinant VNA ( p . 331)70 ) 
According to the proposed revised guidelines, prohibitions can be 
waived, if approved by the Director, NIH, on recommendation of the advisory 
committee. It is noted that societal as well as scientific considerations 
enter into a waiver decision. 
As noted above (I) , the NIH and its advisory committee are not well- 
suited to make decisions on processes which clearly involve important eth- 
ical and political considerations. They should not be made by a predomin- 
antly technical body nor by a government agency involved in promoting the 
activity under consideration. 
JV. CjerctLlteatton of, TaclLitlei and TAxitnZng o& Pecombtnaiit VNA PenionneZ 
According to the proposed revised guidelines, the IBC's will be re- 
sponsible for review and approval of facilities and for training of recom- 
binant DNA personnel. No standards, or qualifications for judging stand- 
* Approval should not be given to experiments until both laboratories and 
workers in laboratories have been certified: see IV, above. 
[A-286] 
