Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson 
Page Two 
by the participants of the Asilomar Conference. More specifically, 
both recommended that certain experiments, though justifiable on 
scientific grounds, should be banned for the present. It was recom- 
mended that the bulk of possible experiments should proceed provided 
that the risk to the investigators, the public and the environment was 
minimal. I believe now, as I did earlier, that this is a prudent and 
defensible course to follow. The guidelines you are considering are 
stringent, perhaps more stringent than they need be on the basis of any 
evidence (not speculation) now available, but they will permit some 
experiments to go forward (in slow gear I should add). Many experi- 
ments, some argue the most important ones, are not possible and will 
have to await the development of certified safer means of physical and 
biological containment. But it is important that experiments get under- 
way for only by experiments can we obtain the information needed to 
assess the benefits and risks of this methodology and to arrive at 
rational decisions in the future. Benjamin Franklin said it best when 
he addressed the Constitutional Convention during the Spring of 1786, 
in Philadelphia: "We are, I think, in the right road of improvement, 
if we are making experiments". 
I believe that the guidelines take cognizance of many of the 
imaginable risks (perhaps even some of the unimaginable ones as well) 
and insist upon quite reasonable steps to contain these risks. The guide- 
lines are intended to carry us through the short term and not to provide 
statutory law. There are undoubtedly some omissions and, depending 
on one's views, the constraints on the experiments and experimenters 
may be too lax or too stringent. But any flaws, if they exist, are more 
likely to be discovered by experience rather than in anticipation and 
these can be rectified quickly as there is clear provision for periodic 
review and revision of the guidelines. I cannot believe we are able now 
to anticipate every breakthrough, mistake, misrepresentation or flagrant 
violation. But we can be vigilant and committed to act promptly by 
tightening or relaxing the requirements and recommendations where 
there is a clear and undeniable risk to public health and safety. Similarly 
as risks and concerns are eliminated, there should be a relaxation in the 
need for highly contained systems. 
If you detect a sense of urgency and some impatience in my views, 
that is intentional. I believe we are entering a period of explosive growth 
in our understanding of the genetic chemistry and function in all living 
things and very likely that knowledge will have revolutionary consequences 
on the biomedical sciences if not on most facets of human existence. Some 
have predicted that this methodology will allow us to capitalize on the un- 
paralled discoveries of the structure and workings of DNA and to use that 
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