Director 
Office of Recombinant 
DNA Activities 
- 2 - 
January 23, 1984 
2. In our opinion, the NIH guidelines should not be limited to just government 
associated projects or those funded by NIH. This new area of science has 
already progressed beyond these two areas and is developing more rapidly in 
areas, other than government and NIH funded projects. The need for 
guidelines for industrial research, private research, University research and 
commodity group research is becoming increasingly important since very rapid 
and diverse progress is being made by these research groups. 
3. Provisions must be made for RAC/NIH to meet in closed session when 
necessary. The need for this will certainly be important after guidelines are 
developed for industry research and proposals are submitted for review, in 
which confidential information is contained. Probably most of the RAC 
meetings can be open to the public, but provisions must be made to hold closed 
sessions when necessary. 
4. We recommend that NIH/RAC guidelines not be limited to bio-medical or any 
other area of research, but be expanded to cover all areas of "recombinant 
DNA," especially when associated with microorganisms. Plant research may 
be excluded from these guidelines, but inclusion would be desirable. 
In general, we suggest NIH/RAC develop guidelines that will address the entire 
recombinant DNA area of science, regardless of whether medical, agricultural or others. 
It is a very important, and rapidly developing area of science and the need for useful 
guidelines to help direct this area of research is becoming increasingly important. 
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