8 
To ensure that those who conduct recombinant DNA research will 
have notice and adhere to the guidelines, the NIH distributed the 
guidelines to approximately 25,000 grantees and contractors. The 
investigators and institutions supported by the NIH have a special 
responsibility for maintaining the safety practices outlined in the 
guidelines, and the NIH will work closely with them to fulfill that 
objective. 
In response to public concern that broad support for the guidelines 
be solicited, the NIH undertook to distribute them through a number of 
channels. Letters were sent to professional organizations soliciting 
support for the guidelines among their member scientists and to editors 
of journals requesting editorial endorsement. The guidelines were also 
sent to all science attaches of foreign embassies located in Washington 
and to U.S. science attaches in our embassies in foreign countries. 
Various international health and scientific organizations have also 
been briefed on the guidelines. 
The NIH recognizes its responsibility to continuing discussions on 
the international level to ensure that there be as uniform a standard of 
guidelines as possible to govern the conduct of this research in all 
nations. As an example of international cooperation, the European 
Molecular Biology Organization recently announced plans for a voluntary 
registry of recombinant DNA research in Europe. Following this EMBO 
initiative, NIH shall similarly maintain a voluntary registry of investi- 
gators and institutions engaged in such research in the United States. 
Plans for establishing this registry are under way, and the new interagency 
committee will be asked to address the scope of the registry as one 
of its earliest tasks. Great Britain has endorsed continuation of 
[8201 
