CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
P.O. Box DH 
Ithaca, New York 14853 
Office of Sponsored Programs (607) 256-5014 
123 Day Hall 
January 28, 1983 
William J. Gartland, Jr., Ph.D. 
Office of Recombinant DNA Activities 
Building 31, Room 4A52 
Bethesda, MD 20205 
Re : Comments on Revised Guidelines 
Dear Dr. Gartland: 
As a result of the recent revisions in the NIH Guidelines, our 
rDNA Committee and its activities have changed in the following ways: 
1. Approximately 74% (28/38) of our rDNA projects are now Class D, 
exempt; 21% are Class C, and 5% are Class B. There are no 
Class A projects on campus. 
2. The membership of the Committee has been reduced from 15 to 10 
members, but the distribution of members from University and 
local community remains in accord with the Guidelines. 
3. The activities of the Committee have reduced in volume. Most 
decisions concerning Class D projects are now made at the 
subcommittee level. Generally, only projects in Classes C and 
B are discussed at full Committee meetings. 
4. The number of full Committee meetings has been reduced from 4 to 
2 per academic year. 
5. The workload of the Committee has been reduced except for the 
load on the secretary who maintains correspondence and keeps 
Committee records. 
The rDNA Committee has no other responsibilities at Cornell. 
The possibility of integrating rDNA with a University-wide biosafety 
committee has been discussed, but no action has been taken as yet. 
In my experience, the revised Guidelines are generally easier to 
work with; however, they still contain uncertainties and ambiguities 
which appear when unusual cases are considered. In these cases, it is 
advisable to call NIH for clarification rather than to waste time trying 
the interpret the Guidelines. 
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