Bran deis University 
Waltham. Massachusetts 02154 
ROSSnSticl OasiC McoiCau 
SCiCnCCS RcsCaAch CfNrcft 
517 - 547-2433 
October 18, 1977 
Dr. Donald Fredrickson 
Director 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 
Dear Dr. Fredrickson: 
On October 5th through Sth the 7th International Conference on Spores 
was held. This is probably the largest meeting in which experts dealing 
with Bacillus subtilis come together to discuss their research and to 
develop future programming. 
For the first time the isolation of the spore gene was reported at this 
meeting of international scientists and the concern over the difficulties 
in carrying out cloning experiments in this country was addressed. In re 
sponse to that problem the following letter and signatures of experts in 
this field from a number of countries is attached. 
We hope the opportunity for altering the NIH Guidelines permitting clonin 
of Bacillus genes in Bacillus will be permitted to enable this important 
research to go forward. 
Sincerely yours, 
Harlyn 0. Halverson, Director 
Rosenstlel Basic Medical 
Sciences Research Center 
HOK/pmb 
«nc. 
[Appendix A — 23] 
