Recombinant DMA Advisory Committee - 
most important were: 
1. Should the NIH continue to be the source of the RAC? and, 
2. Should review of human gene therapy protocols and human gene use 
continue to be done by the RAC or separate from it? 
Dr. R. Murray said that if these issues were decided then it would be easy to come to 
grips with the definition of "recombinant DNA," because in one case the committee 
would not have to worry about the definition, and in the other case, any use of DNA 
from any source, no matter how derived, would have to be considered. 
Dr. Carmen said that the best statement he had read on the subject came from Joan 
Bennett of the American Society for Microbiology who said, 
"You should assume responsibility for these new techniques (microinjection, 
electroporation); however, the RAC should continue to direct its attention to 
areas having a degree of expected hazard and exempt non-hazardous experiments 
from review." 
Further, Dr. Carmen had no feeling from the public hearings that the RAC should 
become a clone of the HGTS. He was unsure how happy the public would be with such 
a turn of events. 
Dr. Post said the impression he received from the hearings was that not only did the 
public not want to see the NIH Guidelines sunsetted, but there was the feeling that the 
RAC had been an efficient way to deal with recombinant DNA research. There was no 
feeling that this activity should be turned over to a regulatory agency to administer. 
Dr. Post wished to argue against the RAC becoming just a Human Gene Therapy 
Advisory Committee in that human gene therapy may evolve to the point that it is 
nothing more than an activity similar to environmental release, and may be turned over 
completely to the FDA to regulate. He did not know what the future held for the RAC, 
but that it had evolved over the years and had continued to serve a vital role since its 
inception. 
Dr. McGarrity asked for opinions on whether this issue should be put on the agenda for 
the HGTS. Mr. Camer did not see any reason for trying to rush discussion on these 
critical issues and that perhaps the Planning Subcommittee would be a better place to 
discuss this since it is much more broad-ranging than merely issues of human gene 
therapy. Dr. Hirano agreed that it should go back to the Planning Subcommittee for 
discussion. 
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Recombinant DNA Research, Volume 14 
