91 
DR. WEISS: The follow-up question to that, Dr. Fredrickson, would be. 
Have you any idea at this point under what conditions or in what kind of 
a facility, or perhaps even in which facility, such exempted risk-assess- 
ment studies might be done? Are you considering, let us say, taking an 
isolated area and trying to do this? 
DR. FREDRICKSON: I think that depends on the nature of the experi- 
ment that might be proposed. Certainly that consideration would have to 
be made. 
Are there other questions or comments? 
MR. HUTT : Could I just get clarification from Dr. Weiss as to whether 
the response is adequate to meet your concern? In other words, is the 
availability of an exemption sufficient? 
DR. WEISS: The availability of an exemption is sufficient to a point. 
I think the basic question is the mechanism whereby that exemption might be 
done, might be accomplished. I think that is a question that is going to 
have to be examined by the Advisory Committee at some length. 
MR. HUTT: Well, the proposal is that it would be an exemption granted 
only by the Director. 
DR. WEISS: Presumably, at this point. 
DR. FREDRICKSON: Any further comments? 
Again, some of these issues will return as we get into experimental 
Guidelines, but now we have an opportunity to — thank you very much, Dr. 
Gottesman — an opportunity to hear from several of the invited witnesses. 
I would like to call on Dr. Robert Bock, who is Dean of Graduate Admin- 
istration at the University of Wisconsin. 
Dr. Bock, 
DR. BOCK: Thank you. I am pleased to have this opportunity to comment. 
I have, as a graduate dean, had the responsibility of appointing and seeing 
the administration of a biological safety committee for five and half years 
now. We have had such a committee for a long time. They are wide-ranging 
and study the whole host of biological safety problems on a large university 
campus. We look forward to these Guidelines as a very constructive document, 
an evolving document. The State of Wisconsin will have, in its next legis- 
lative session, placed before it a recommendation from the legislative 
Committee on Health and Social Services that the State extend the NIH Guide- 
lines as an operating policy for all recombinant DNA practice within the 
State. I think that shows you the respect with which a very careful com- 
mittee in the State considers your Guidelines. 
With respect to biological containment, I would like to question whether 
for containment, both biological and physical, it isn't preferred to have 
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