XI. SUPPLEMENTAL VIEWS OF SENATOR NELSON 
S. 1217, a bill to regulate deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) activities lias 
a laudable goal: the protection of public health and safety by re- 
quiring that uniform national guidelines be met by scientists conduct- 
ing recombinant DNA research, both in publicly supported and pri- 
vate industry research laboratories. 
However, I am concerned that S. 1217 is unnecessarily burden- 
some and detrimental to the future of this important biomedical 
research. 
Scientists all agree that the joining together of different segments 
of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a potent tool for the conquest of 
disease and other beneficial scientific advances. The recently announced 
discovery that recombined genes facilitate the production of insulin 
by bacteria is an example of such an important breakthrough. Re- 
combining fragments of DNA occurs continually in nature. Four 
years ago, however, at a 1973 Gordon Conference on Nucleic Acids, 
scientists involved in developing recombinant DNA research drew 
attention to the possible hazards of manmade recombinants. 
Because scientists and laboratory technicians are at greatest risk 
of direct contact with the organisms involved, they have been most 
concerned with clearly defining the hazards. To date, despite many 
thousands of recombinant DNA experiments, no known hazards have 
occurred. 
Nevertheless, as a result of concerns expressed in the 1973 Gordon 
Conference, and a 1975 Asilomar Conference, guidelines were promul- 
gated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1976, which 
are required to be met by any reserchers having Federal financial 
support. The guidelines, however, cannot be enforced in the private 
sector without enabling legislation. 
Therefore, legislation to simply extend the NIH Guidelines to all 
sectors engaged in recombinant DNA activities seems appropriate. 
NIH guidelines 
The NIH guidelines prohibit certain kinds of recombinant DNA 
experiments and the release of recombinant molecules into the en- 
vironment. Permissible experiments are outlined and are assigned both 
a physical and biological containment level, depending on assess- 
ment of potential biohazards. 
Physical containment refers to methods used to prevent release of 
organisms containing recombinant DNA molecules from the lab. 
Relying on proven methods that have been developed for handling 
known pathogenic organisms in clinical and research laboratories, 
physical containment is approached in two wavs: (1) standard micro- 
biological practices and training are prescribed by the guidelines; 
(2) special kinds of equipment and facilities are used. Four levels 
of physical containment are described, progressing from least to most 
strict ; P-1, P-2, P-3, P-4. 
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