6 
Environmental Defense Fund, stressed his concern that the NIII 
guidelines were limited solely to HEW-funded research. He also noted 
the lack of enforcement provisions in the guidelines. Dr. Zimmerman 
indicated : 
... I think we have to consider the failings of human 
nature, the fact that no matter how strict a set of safety pro- 
cedures appears on paper, that people will always make mis- 
takes. Somehow there has to be some sort of system of checks 
and balances whereby laboratories are inspected periodically, 
and the contents examined periodically. And as long as it is 
agreed there is sufficient potential hazard, such as we must if 
the NIH issues an unprecedented environmental impact state- 
ment, then we must assume that w T e must never relax our 
guard. I really feel that without strict regulation and strict 
enforcement of those regulations, and especially if recombi- 
nant DNA research proliferates, then we may well find a lot 
of incidents such as those that I described with radioactive 
materials taking place. 
A panel of pharmaceutical industry representatives — Mr. Stetler, 
Mr. Adams and Dr. Udenfriend — testified that their industry would 
work with NIH to comply with the spirit of the NIH guidelines. 
Mr. Stetler indicated : 
For PMA’s part, we will exert every effort to keep apprised 
of our member firms’ involvement in such research, and will 
encourage cooperation with the scientific community and other 
peer groups, including Government agencies, in adopting nec- 
essary controls. It is too early to know the ultimate outcome of 
much of this research, which has and will be undertaken. We 
might predict, however, that recombination of DNA in a host 
bacterial cell could produce quantities of medically needed 
natural products such as hormones and other important drugs 
by fermentation processes rather than by extraction of such 
raw materials as pancreas or other tissues of animals and 
plants . . . The application of this technology to basic re- 
search of the disease process — more specifically to genetically 
induced or associated disease — offers great promise . . . The 
potential risks of recombinant DNA research and its commer- 
cial application are well recognized ... It is important, we 
believe, to emphasize that the present state-of-the-art and the 
provisions of the NIH guidelines militate against research 
and development that would pose such a threat to society. 
April 6 , 1977 
Hearings on recombinant DNA legislation were also held on April 6, 
1977, and the witnesses were : (1) Dale Bumpers, U.S. Senator, Arkan- 
sas; (2) Howard Metzenbaum, U.S. Senator, Ohio; (3) Michael Du- 
Kakis. Governor, Massachusetts; (4) Brendan T. Byrne, Governor, 
New Jersey; (5) Joseph A. Califano, Jr., Secretary, Department of 
Health, Education, and Welfare; (6) Halsted R. Holman, professor 
of medicine, Stanford Medical Center; (7) Norton Zinder, professor, 
Rockefeller University; (8) Alexander Rich, professor of biophysics, 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; (9) Harlyn Halvorson, presi- 
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