JAMES R. SANDERSON 
533 LAKESIDE DRIVE. S. E. 
GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIGAN 49506 
10 December 1977 
Mr. Donald Fredrickson, Director 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 20014 
Dear Mr. Fredrickson: 
Upon returning from a trip recently I found in 
my mall a note from Scientists' Institute for Public 
Information saying that proposed revisions of the 
Guidelines on Recombinant, v Re search published by NIH 
have been published for comment, and that comments 
will be presented to the Advisory Committee on De- 
cember 15th. SIPI suggested that if interested I 
obtain a copy of the proposed revisions and submit 
my comment. I have not had time to see the proposed 
revisions but can let you know how I feel about re- 
combinant DNA research. 
I am strongly opposed to any and all recombi- 
nant DNA research. 
To say that a scientific research should be pur- 
sued because an enabling technique has been discovered 
is not a valid reason, especially when no one can fore- 
tell whither it may lead for good or ill. 
The fact that scientists of great promgnance fa- 
vor this research and are even engaging in it or plan- 
ning to means to me that they are irresponsible or that 
they are men whose scientific knowledge is of narrow 
breadth and insufficient depth. This is not the first 
instance of such a situation. 
I would remind you that there are also scientists 
of equal standing who oppose this research. 
I have been i" super-safe" laboratories and understand 
the methods and procedures of their design and use. I 
know that humans working in them become casual about the 
procedures. As to whether the requirements in the NIH 
guidelines are adequate to eliminate all possibilities 
for irreversible, subtle, and desperately harmful re- 
sults I am skeptical. What is our assurance that they 
will be followed? Who will police them? Furthermore, I 
understand they only apply to laboratories engaged on 
government contracts. 
[Appendix A — 121] 
