4 
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 involving 
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 my decisions on principal issues — were published in the Federal Register 
for public comment. 
Over 40,000 copies of the Guidelines have been widely distributed to 
foreign embassies, medical and scientific journals, NIH grantees and 
contractors, and major professional research societies. 
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