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biology . But the technology, which permits genetic information from very 
different organisms to be combined, also involves potential hazards which 
are difficult to evaluate. Therefore the research must proceed with con- 
siderable caution. 
Medical advances to be expected through the use of this technology 
include the opportunity to explore the functioning of cells in complicated 
diseases. Understanding of a variety of hereditary defects may be significantly 
enhanced, and some may be able to be prevented or modified. In the future it 
may be possible to use this technology to produce in microorganisms medically 
important compounds for the treatment and control of disease. 
There are risks in the new research as well as potential benefits. Micro- 
organisms with transplanted genes — called "chimeras" — may prove hazardous to 
human or other forms of life. Thus special provisions are necessary for 
their containment. 
The NIH Guidelines establish carefully controlled conditions for the 
conduct of experiments involving the production of such molecules and their 
insertion into organisms such as bacteria. These Guidelines replace the 
recommendations contained in the 1975 Summary Statement of the Asilomar 
Conference on Recombinant DNA Molecules . The latter would have permitted 
research under less strict conditions than the NIH Guidelines. 
The chronology leading to the present Guidelines is described in detail 
in the NIH Director's decision document. In summary, scientists engaged 
in this research called, in 1974, for a moratorium on certain kinds of experiments 
until an international meeting could be convened to consider the potential 
hazards of recombinant DNA molecules. They also called upon the NIH to estab- 
lish a committee to provide advice on recombinant DNA technology. 
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