Dr. W. Emmett Barkley 
Page 2 
March 29, 1976 
On this point, and in any other proposed recombination, there are 
experts (e.g., on Cl. botulinum ) whose opinions should be sought. 
I assume this would be a responsibility of the proposed institutional 
biohazard committee. Development of antibiotic-resistant strains 
also has been mentioned. I fail to see any increased hazard in this 
sort of laboratory demonstration in view of the long history of non- 
transmission of laboratory-acquired infections to the general public. 
Furthermore, medical laboratories serving or associated with hospitals 
see antibiotic-resistant strains frequently. Any spread of them does 
not originate from laboratory personnel, but from the patient. To 
my knowledge, hospital laboratory personnel with laboratory-acquired 
infections have not been the cause of infection of persons outside 
the laboratory. One possible exception may be serum hepatitis. 
Consequently, although development of an IS. coli that will not 
replicate or survive in the human gut is a praiseworthy goal, I do 
not believe research on recombinant DNA molecules should be delayed 
until such a strain is available, when one considers the tremendous 
variability of the human gut among different persons and even within 
one person at different times. 
„ Sincerely yours, 
A. G. WEDUM, M.D. 
Consultant, Project 4 
Litton Bionetics, Inc., FCRC 
AGW : eab 
[ 509 ] 
