MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 
COMMITTEE ON ASSESSMENT OF BIOHAZARDS 
TELEPHONE: (617) 253-5360. 1740 
77 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE. 20B-238 
CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS 02139 
January 5, 1983 
Dr. William J. Gartland 
Public Health Service 
Department of Health and 
Human Services 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, MD 20205 
Dear Bill: 
In response to your request for information about IBC 
functions with respect to the NIH Guidelines, I want to state 
that, as you know, in the City of Cambridge we have an Ordinance 
which governs our recombinant DNA activity. The NIH Guidelines 
are only one of many components of this Ordinance. We expend a 
considerable effort in meeting the city's requirement. We have 
few problems if any in functioning under the NIH Guidelines. 
The two specific comments that may be of assistance to you 
are that our committee meets six times a year and it has 
responsibility for all biological safety matters at M.I.T. 
Respectfully yours 
Daniel F. Liberman, Ph.D 
cc: Dr. Michael Marietta 
Chairperson 
Committee on Assessment of Biohazards at MIT 
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