UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE 
2025 ZONAL AVENUE, HMR-401 
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90033 
DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY 
TELEPHONE: (213) 224-7139 
January 6, 1982 
William J. Gartland, Jr., Ph.D. 
Director, Office of Recombinant DNA Activities 
Building 31, Room 4 A 52 
National Institutes of Health 
Bethesda, Maryland 20205 
Dear Dr. Gartland: 
This is in reply to your recent memorandum soliciting comments on the Revised 
Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules. The USC 
Institutional Biosafety Committee recently met and considered each of the points you 
raised. The consensus was that the Guidelines tend to be somewhat more stringent 
than necessary but are practicable and workable in their present form. No specific 
changes were suggested or recommended other then the inclusion of more tables, lists 
or summaries, which are most helpful to research workers and committee members 
when they consult the guidelines. The Committee considers that the assumption of 
additional biosafety responsibility would impose an undesirable burden and that this 
aspect of the operations of the Safety Office should remain under the auspices of the 
Safety Office. 
Enclosed are the minutes of the meeting, which takes up the points you raised 
in your memorandum, item by item. 
I should mention that we are grateful to the Office of Recombinant DNA 
Activities for their help and cooperation in interpreting the Guidelines. With best 
greetings for the New Year. 
Sincerely yours, 
Irving Gordon, M.D. 
Chairman, USC Institutional Biosafety 
Committee 
IG/db 
[ 561 ] 
