llarch 8, 1978 MACK v. CALIFANO DECISION 
The U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, affirmed a February 23, 1978, 
District Court decision which had denied an injunction barring recombi- 
nant DNA experiments at Ft. Detrick from proceeding. The court held 
that the NIH had taken a "hard look" at the risks, benefits, and 
alternatives involved in governing recombinant DNA research, and had 
complied with the legislative mandates of NEPA through its EIS. 
lUrch. 1978 VOLUME 2 PUBLISHED 
This volume covers June 1976-November 1977, including documents 
relating to DHEW patent policy, activities of the Federal Interagency 
Committee, the EIS, and Federal legislation. 
March 20-21, 1978 WORKSHOP ON AGRICULTURAL PATHOGENS 
In order to consider the containment conditions for incorporation of 
DNA from plant pathogens into E_^ col i K-12 and for use of viral and 
other vectors in plants, the "Workshop on Risk Assessment of Agricul- 
tural Pathogens" was held in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of 
NIH, NSF, and the Department of Agriculture. An important conclusion 
of this workshop was its finding that there is a lack of evidence that 
E. coli K-12, or iny other strain of this bacterium, is capable of 
acquiring an ecological niche in plants and thus infecting them. 
April 6-7, 1978 REVIEW OF ASCOT BY U.S. WORKING GROUP 
Meeting in Bethesda, Maryland and chaired by Dr. Harold Ginsberg, this 
working group of U.S. virologists reviewed the results of the Ascot 
meeting and converted them into recommendations for revision of the 
Guidelines. It agreed that the original Guidelines imposed stricter 
containment on use of viral DNA or of viruses as vectors than was 
justified by available scientific evidence, and recommended changes. 
April 27-28, 1978 RAC REVIEW OF WORKSHOPS 
The RAC considered the recommendations concerning viruses and plants 
and adopted most of them. They also proposed further revisions on the 
basis of suggestions by the public commentators as identified by the 
Director, NIH. 
July 28, 1978 PROPOSED REVISED GUIDELINES/DECISION OF THE DIRECTOR/ 
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT PUBLISHED 
The Director, NIH, developed "Proposed Revised Guidelines — NIH" on the 
basis of suggestions made by public commentators and the above-described 
scientific task forces, taking into account the RAC recommendations. 
With the approval of the Secretary, HEW, and the Assistant Secretary for 
[ 607 ] 
