2 
International Activities 
Dr. Fredrickson opened this discussion by noting that the NIH, 
Canada, and the United Kingdom have all published guidelines setting 
forth standards for the conduct of recombinant DNA research. The 
European Science Foundation (ESF) has urged its member nations to 
adopt the U.K. model and several of these nations have done so. In 
addition, the European Medical Research Council has voted to accept 
the recommendation of the ESF. Holland, however, is relying on the 
NIH Guidelines, while the Soviet Union has created its own DNA 
Recombinant Guidelines Committee. 
There are several initiatives underway to achieve a commonality of 
standards. A workshop was held in London in March under the sponsorship 
of the NIH and the European Molecular Biology Organization (DfBO) at 
which the technical aspects of primary and secondary physical containment 
were discussed. The physical containment measures of all three sets of 
guidelines were found to be within an appropriate range, but adjustments 
need to be made to achieve uniformity. Also in March there was a meeting in 
France of representatives of the ESF that convened for the purpose of con- 
sidering the harmonization of guidelines throughout Europe. 
In addition, the Committee on Genetic Experimentation (COGENE) of the 
International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), and the World 
Health Organization (WHO) are taking an active part in fostering the 
discussion of Issues associated with this research. 
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