Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson, Director - 3 - November 7, 1977 
P.S.: I read the letters of Drs. Paul Berg (June 14, 1977), Maxine Singer 
(June 21, 1977) and David Hogness (June 23 and 30, 1977), which were included 
in the material for the Advisory Committee for the November 1, 1977 meeting. 
I agree with most aspects of these letters and especially endorse those parts 
of Dr. Hogness' letter which (a) warn us that categorizing experiments in the 
Guidelines *as arbitrary, misplacing some experiments, (b) the original 
Guidelines, as drafted, were a "conservative guide to common-sense precautions 
against speculative hazards, where considerable leeway is expected and allowed", 
and (c) it is unfortunate that these Guidelines were "converted into legal 
regulations", "in the emotional and often hysterical atmosphere engendered 
by opponents of this research". At present there are only a very small number 
of such opponents, mostly very vocal and politically motivated, whereas the over 
whelming majority of informed scientists are against legal regulations, as 
shown by the resolutions prepared by participants of several Gordon Conferences 
and by the National Academy of Sciences. 
I also endorse Dr. Hogness 1 sugges t i on. tha t experiments assigned to the 
PI and P2 containment should not require "M.U.A's and all of the attendant 
bureaucratic paraphenal ia" ; a one-page registration as described earlier 
in this letter would be the maximum requirement. 
[Appendix A — 48] 
