DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 
WASHINGTON. D. C. 20250 
SEP 2 8 1978 
Donald S. Frederickson, M.D. 
Director, National Institutes of Health 
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 
Dear Dr. Fredrickson: 
This is a followup to my interim reply to your letter of August 3 
requesting the response of the Department of Agriculture to the 
Proposed Revised Guidelines on Recombinant DNA research. It also 
replies to your letter of July 27 to Dr. Nielson, to which 
Dr. Bertrand provided an interim response, as well as to others 
sent to the Department with copies of the guidelines. The Department 
supports in principle the proposed guidelines as presented by NIH. 
You are to be complimented on the excellent presentation of background 
information and rationale for the revisions in your accompanying 
decision and environmental impact assessment statements. 
The scope and containment levels for recombinant DNA research in 
relation to plants, nonprimate vertebrates and invertebrates, 
including pathogens and other microflora associated with these 
organisms, are much more in line with the perceived risk of using 
these organisms in recombinant DNA experiments than are these points 
in the current guidelines. 
Agriculture is pleased to have contributed to revisions in these areas 
through the careful study of needs by respected scientists at the USDA- 
NSF sponsored Airlie House workshop on Recombinant DNA Research in 
Relation to Plant and Animal Sciences, and the USDA-NSF-NIH sponsored 
workshop on Risk Assessment of Agricultural Pathogens. The acceptance 
of most of the recommendations from the workshops by the RAC and their 
subsequent incorporation into the guidelines was extremely important 
to agriculture. This demonstrates the cooperation between agencies 
and scientists that must occur before the tremendous potential of 
recombinant DNA technology can be realized in the production and 
improvement of the food and fiber train in the United States. We 
trust this cooperation will continue as research provides scientific 
evidence to support future guideline revisions and updating. 
[A-391] 
