Development, has recommended the creation of a national safety committee 
for recombinant DNA research and of special committees at universities 
and research centers. These special committees would recommend safety 
precautions for each research proposal, but the national safety committee 
would have the final decision. The intention is to follow the U.S. 
Guidelines in general and also to take into account other recommenda- 
tions, especially those of EMBO. 
Some experimentation is currently in progress, but none requires 
facilities for containment above a low level. A moderate-level contain- 
ment facility is expected to be completed this autumn in Rehovoth, but no 
maximum-containment laboratories are planned. Any experiments requiring 
this highest degree of physical containment are expected to be carried 
out in the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg. 
ITALY 
A committee of the Italian Society of Molecular Biology, chaired by 
Professor E. Calef, was created in 1976 with the charge of preparing a 
report for submission to the Italian government. At a meeting of the 
Society in April 1977, motions were drafted requesting the Minister of 
Health to establish a committee to register and manage the safety aspects 
of recombinant DNA experiments. A national committee has recently been 
established and is expected to meet in the near future. 
At a recent public seminar, it was the consensus of the Society 
that recombinant DNA research should be encouraged with appropriate 
safeguards, including the training of personnel. 
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