166 
have to tell you that you are wanted on the phone by the Harvard Crimson. 
(Laughter . ) 
And we will wait until tomorrow for the broader answer to the activi- 
ties of the Biohazards Committee at Harvard. 
Dr. Sinsheimer. 
DR. SINSHEIMER: I don't know if this is the right time for it, but I 
have a similar concern about the delegation to the institutional biohazards 
committees with the authority to increase the classification. Further, it 
wasn't clear to me, if it were decreased at institution A could it then be 
sent to institution B at the decreased classification, or is it only valid 
for that institution? 
DR. FREDRICKSON: Is there a member of the RAC who would like to com- 
ment on this? Dr. Gottesman? 
DR. GOTTESMAN: In terms of sending it from one institution to another 
after it is declassified, we certainly haven't discussed that in specific 
terms . 
DR. SINSHEIMER: Well, you can see the concern that it would lead to 
the fact that the most lax institution really would become the standard- 
setter. 
DR. GOTTESMAN: Well, presumably, though, it would have to be declassi- 
fied by the biohazard committee where the work was being done. I don't know. 
The reason for putting this in was, to some extent, to make it somewhat easier 
to take the first step in lowering, and yet not lower things further without 
an extremely careful look. And it was also based on our impression, I think, 
that the local biohazards committees that we are hearing about were doing a 
fairly careful job of looking at things in their universities. 
The way the proposal works, everything only goes down one step, of course, 
with the local biohazard committee approval, and any further lowering has to 
come to the Recombinant Advisory Committee. So we are never talking about a 
leap, say, from P4 down to really low containment. 
DR. FREDRICKSON: You are talking about page 49602, column two — for the 
record . 
DR. GOTTESMAN: Should I review quickly what that is all about? I mean, 
it hasn't come up at all. 
DR. FREDRICKSON: Well, it has to do with the purified DNA and lowering 
the containment level by the institutional biohazard committee. 
DR. GOTTESMAN: If I could review for one second what the situation was 
in the old Guidelines, because I don't think that is entirely clear. 
[ 370 ] 
