itation clause, and the frequency of revision of 
guidelines is usually not specified. 
(7) The various national guidelines appear to 
be intended to deal with the risk of a major epi¬ 
demic, although the chance of initiating an epi¬ 
demic by recombinant DNA experimentation in E. 
coli K-12 or analogous non-pathogenic orga¬ 
nisms appears negligible. 
(8) The level of containment required for work 
with recombinant DNA from known pathogens is 
often greater than is specified for work with the 
intact pathogenic organism. The guidelines of 
some nations effectively prohibit recombinant 
DNA work with genes from medically important 
disease-producing organisms, although recombi¬ 
nant DNA methods appear to provide a means of 
carrying out such studies at less risk than is 
involved in work with the pathogens themselves. 
The full report of the working group will include a 
history of the efforts to develop guidelines for 
recombinant DNA experimentation, a discussion, 
analysis and evaluation of the explicit and implicit 
assumptions on which the guidelines are based, a 
comparison of the levels of containment required 
in various nations for sample experiments, an 
updated tabular compilation of information pro¬ 
vided in complete questionnaires, a statement 
summarizing th principal findings of the survey, 
and a section that will present the general conclu¬ 
sions of the Working Group. 
The status of guidelines for recombinant DNA 
experimentation is undergoing rapid change at 
this time. This appears to be the result of a chang¬ 
ing assessment of the conjectural risks that led to 
the initial formation of guidelines and regulations 
for research in this area, and the realization of sub¬ 
stantial scientific benefits from the use of this 
research tool. 
The information being accumulated by the 
Working Group on Recombinant DNA Guidelines 
should be of value to individual scientists as well 
as to national advisory committees, and should be 
useful in the formation of any policy statement on 
this subject by COGENE. 
Benefits and Applications of Recombinant DNA Technology 
In addition to three members of COGENE, 40 
representatives of industry, science and 
government from seven countries (Denmark, 
Germany, Japan, Switzerland, UK, USA, USSR) 
were present. 
The consensus of this group was 1) that recombi¬ 
nant DNA technology offers enormous benefits for 
the development on an industrial scale of new or 
improved sources of medicines, foods and indus¬ 
trial chemicals, 2) that by the time a micro¬ 
organism has been developed for use in industrial 
fermentation it will have been thoroughly charac¬ 
terized both with regard to the biohazards it may 
present and the products it will produce and 
appropriate safety measures will have been 
devised, 3) that the genetically engineered micro¬ 
organisms that will have to be constructed to real¬ 
ize these benefits will not pose any special 
biohazards that cannot be obtained by the sorts of 
safety measures already used in the industrial fer¬ 
mentation industry, 4) that although there are no 
forseeable, insuperable scientific obstacles to 
prevent the progressive exploitation of the new 
technology on an industrial scale, several unans¬ 
wered questions about the molecular biology of 
micro-organisms and higher organisms must be 
answered by basic research if the industrial appli¬ 
cations are to proceed at an optimal rate, 5) that 
since the common bacterium E. coli is not ideal for 
industrial fermentation, a range of alternative 
micro-organisms more suited to the needs of the 
industry, should be developed as safe hosts for 
recombinant DNA molecules. Until these alterna¬ 
tive host-vector systems are developed the extent 
to which the potentials of this new biotechnology 
can be realized will be severely restricted; 6) that 
industry will abide by national guidelines relating 
to recombinant DNA research but is also con¬ 
cerned to protect its proprietary rights and 
requests that procedures be developed to accom¬ 
modate these two, sometimes conflicting inter¬ 
ests; 7) that patent laws relating to the patenting of 
strains of micro-organisms per se and novel gene 
combinations can be clarified and that COGENE 
and other agencies help disseminate literature 
explaining the new DNA technology to those 
responsible for the execution of patent law. 
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