lines recommend that this body determine the containment level required 
for the research being performed, assist the biohazards committees to 
function as effectively as possible, monitor the Guidelines in terms of 
making revisions, monitor the biohazards committees, certify host-vector 
systems, and review all reports of ill health that might possibly be due 
to this work. 
To perform these duties, a Biohazards Committee of the Council has 
been formed, consisting of a lay chairperson, four additional lay per- 
sons, and four scientists. This Committee set as its first priority the 
modification of the Guidelines through the elimination of inconsistencies 
and the provision of additional information where needed. Several such 
modifications were accepted by the MRC in September 1977. 
In addition, the Committee has created a Subcommittee on Performance 
Standards for the purpose of establishing design criteria for equipment 
and laboratories involved in research presenting a potential biological 
hazard . 
The Council holds itself responsible for providing equipment needed 
to comply with the Guidelines and, to this end, has recently been ac- 
cepting applications for such funding. 
Legislation to govern recombinant DNA activities is being consid- 
ered by an interdepartmental committee led by the Ministry of State for 
Science and Technology, and a document will soon be submitted to the 
Cabinet recommending mechanisms expected to parallel those in place in 
the United Kingdom. 
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