2 
large-scale production of enzymes for industrial use; and potential beneiits 
in agriculture include the enhancement of nitrogen fixation in certain 
plants and the biological control of pests, permitting increased food 
production. 
There are risks in this new research area as well as anticipated 
benefits. A potential hazard, for example, is that the foreign DNA micro- 
organism may alter the host in unpredictable and undesirable ways. Should 
the altered microorganism escape from containment, it might infect human 
beings, animals, or plants, causing disease or modifying the environment. 
Or the altered bacteria might have a competitive advantage, enhancing their 
survival in some niche within the ecosystem. 
Until the potential risks are better delineated and evaluated in light 
of developing scientific knowledge, the public should expect such research 
to be conducted under strict conditions ensuring safety. This was the 
fundamental principle that guided the National Institutes of Health and 
the Federal Interagency Committee in their deliberations on Recombinant DNA 
Research — that is, the desire to allow this significant research to 
continue while protecting man and his environment, to the extent humanly 
possible, from the effects of potential hazards whose nature is as yet 
unknown. I would like to review with the Committee the activities of 
the NIH in developing guidelines to govern this research, and then devote 
the rest of my testimony to the work of the Interagency Committee. 
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