3 
are new, may take 20 to 30 years to cause cancer symptoms, or 
may imitate other diseases. Also unknown are the methods of 
treatment of any illnesses caused by the new organisms. 
5. The greatest danger of these experiments is that the 
hazard is alive, self-perpetuating, and reproduces rapidly. Once 
out, it can not be recalled. If released into polluted waters, such 
as the Potomac River, even relatively small quantities of organisms 
can rapidly multiply to the point where large populations are 
threatened. Conduct of such experiments in laboratories contiguous 
to a large populated area, upstream from a water supply source 
already reputed to be polluted, unnecessarily exposes the population 
to many unpredictable health hazards. 
6. The E. coli t o be utilized in the experiments is a 
"weakened" strain, as opposed to the natural, "wild type" strain. 
It is not known whether the weakened strain, when combined with 
the mouse cancer genes can exchange genetic information with 
other, wild type strains, but such exchanges occur commonly among 
different E. coli strains and among E. coli and other microorganisms. 
The wild type strains of E. coli inhabit the whole environment, 
living in soil, water and all warm blooded animals, and are carried 
by insects and fish. If such genetic interchange did occur, there is 
absolutely no way of predicting what segment of the environment 
polyoma virus that has been mixed into a wild type E. coli will 
infect. However, this possibility clearly poses a threat t 
[Appendix C — 67] 
