Guidelines and the proposed revision. Both parts are designed to 
explain the major proposed changes. 
Part A is purely descriptive — that is, not a rationale or justi- 
fication. It is a general explanation addressed primarily to laymen. 
The organization of material approximates but does not exactly match 
that of the Guidelines. 
The table of comparison beginning on page 13, prepared by the NIH 
Office of Recombinant DMA Activities, serves both parts. It is 
the only table to which Part A or B refers. 
Part B is a detailed rationale for the proposed changes. Its 
organization parallels that of the Guidelines. It is more technical 
and comprehensive than Part A, justifying as well as describing 
the revisions. 
It must be pointed out that neither part of this document is 
intended to be comprehensive. For specifics, the reader is referred 
to the present NIH Guidelines and the Proposed Revised Guidelines, 
published in the Federal Register of July 7, 1976, and September 27, 
1977, respectively. 
The present document addresses only the changes proposed in the 
Federal Register . These and other suggested revisions were considered 
at the public meeting of the Advisory Committee to the Director, NIH, 
held on December 15 and 16 at the National Institutes of Health. 
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