APRIL 27-28-MINUTES OF MEETING 
16 
use Eco Rl. The Committee considered this to be a minor 
modification and re canine nded approval of the general principle 
that in joining a cloned segment to the vector of an EK2 
system, dA-dT tailing can be substituted for restriction 
enzyme joining without special approval. 
3. Charon 2lA 
The Committee reviewed an application frcrn Dr. Frederick 
Blattner's laboratory for EK2 certification of a host-vector 
system based on phage Charon 21A. Charon 21A is a recombinant 
between Ag tWES * AB and Charon phages, and can be considered to 
be an improved modification of Charon 16A which is certified 
for use in EK2 systems. It appears to satisfy all the requirements 
for EK2 phage systems, but had not been considered in detail 
by all members of the subcommittee because of the late date of 
submission of the application. Ihe RAC voted to recommend 
approval of Charon 21A subject to confirmation by mail ballot 
from the subcommittee. 
4. Production and Testing Contracts for EK2 Systems 
Dr. John Nutter of NIAID described the production and 
testing contracts awarded for EK2 and EK3 systems. In 1976, 
NIAID let four contracts for the development of EK2 systems. 
The contractors were: Fred Blattner for the production of the 
Charon phages 3A, 4A, 16A; Donald Hel inski for plasmid vectors; 
Dan Ray and Fred Wilcox for the development of a three component 
Ml3 vector (this contract has recently received a no cost 
extension) and FPy Curtiss for the development of X 1776 an ^ 
other E. coli hosts. All these contracts have or will terminate 
in the near future. 
At the same time contracts were awarded for the testing of 
EK2 systems and their possible elevation to EK3. The 
contractors were independently to verify the genotype 
and phenotype of the host and vector and then to determine 
their survivability. Verification was to be done by 
Dr. Dodge for E. coli hosts x 1776 and DP50, Dr. Lieb 
for lambda phages, and Dr. Clowes for plasmid vectors. 
Drs. Freter and Levy were to determine baseline data under 
culture conditions, and in mice and humans. A contract 
has also been awarded to test simulated accidental spills. 
A sewage testing contract is still to be negotiated. 
A third type of contract was awarded to Josephine Curtiss 
at the University of Alabama to propagate and package 
EK2 systems. The material will be returned to NIH for 
distribution. A announcement of availability will appear 
in the next issue of the Bulletin. 
[ 532 ] 
