provided, ensuring the highest standards for scientific merit and 
conditions for safety. We believe these provisions will afford protec 
tion, and with a wide margin of safety, to workers and the environment 
while permitting this type of research to proceed. And the NIH is 
sponsoring additional experimental work to determine possible hazards 
and new safety practices and procedures. 
Development of the Guidelines 
Recombinant DNA research brings to the fore certain problems in 
assessing the potential impact of basic science on society as a whole, 
including the manner of providing public participation in those assess 
ments. The field of research involved is at the leading edge of bio- 
logical science. New information is accruing rapidly and requires 
continuing evaluation and re-synthesis. The experiments involved are 
extremely technical and complex. Molecular biologists active in this 
research require diligence to keep abreast of the newest developments. 
It is not surprising that scientists in other fields and the general 
public have difficulty in understanding advances in recombinant DNA 
research. Yet public awareness and understanding of this line of 
investigation is vital. 
It was the scientists engaged in recombinant DNA research who 
called for a moratorium on certain kinds of experiments in order to 
assess the risks and devise appropriate guidelines. At their behest, 
the National Academy of Sciences created a committee that organized an 
international conference at Asilomar Conference Center in California, 
held February 1975. The committee also called on the NIH to establish 
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