Biomedical Scientists: At a February 19th meeting of approximately 
thirty prominent scientists at the NIH, the imminence of some form of 
regulation seemed to be recognized and, it was generally agreed, Federal 
regulation is preferred to ensure uniform standards. Issues discussed 
by the participants included: the scope of any legislation, with concern 
expressed that it not broadly encompass all laboratory research and that 
% 
consideration be given to having the bill deal with use and production of 
recombinant DNA molecules rather than solely with such research; the costs 
to be incurred by institutions in implementing the regulations; and, the 
availability and cost of insurance for protection from civil liability, 
with the opinion expressed that a strict liability provision in legislation 
would effectively stop all such research. 
Bill of Particulars 
Each representative was given a copy of the provisions of S.621 and a draft 
Bill of Particulars for discussion purposes. 
The following elements were discussed by the Committee: 
General Requirements 
Three alternatives were presented. It was the consensus of the Committee 
that the language "production or use of recombinant DNA molecules" is 
preferable to "recombinant DNA research." Dr. Koslow, DOD, suggested that 
Congress may not approve the absence of "research" and Dr. Fredrickson 
replied that "research" is included in "production or use." Mr. Swanberg 
of the NRC suggested that the term include "possession" as well as "use 
and production of," recombinant DMA molecules. 
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