4 
affairs. Comments received from committee members and a number of public 
witnesses represented a wide range of views. Follow-up written comments 
were also solicited. In April, the NIH Recombinant Advisory Committee 
considered these comments from the February meeting, and a number of 
changes to the guidelines were made. Concurrently, meetings for information 
exchange were held with representatives from other Federal agencies and 
private industry as well as with Congressional staffs. Finally, on 
June 23, 1976, with the approval of the Secretary of HEW and the Assistant 
Secretary of Health, the NIH issued guidelines to govern the research it 
supports on recombinant DNA molecules. The NIH Guidelines established 
strict conditions for the conduct of this research, prohibiting certain 
types of experiments and requiring special safety conditions for other 
types. The provisions were designed to afford protection — with a wide 
margin of safety — to workers and the environment. Two weeks later, on 
July 7, 1976, the NIH Guidelines — together with a document indicating the 
basis of decisions by the Director, NIH, on principal issues — were 
published in the Federal Register for public comment. 
Copies of the Guidelines were widely distributed to foreign embassies, 
medical and scientific journals, NIH grantees and contractors, and major 
professional research societies. 
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