---
title: "Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA"
chunk: 1/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asilomar_Conference_on_Recombinant_DNA"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:24:43.330016+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

The Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA was an influential conference organized by Paul Berg, Maxine Singer, and colleagues to discuss the potential biohazards and regulation of biotechnology, held in February 1975 at a conference center at Asilomar State Beach, California. A group of about 140 professionals (primarily biologists, but also including lawyers and physicians) participated in the conference to draw up voluntary guidelines to ensure the safety of recombinant DNA technology. The conference also placed scientific research more into the public domain, and can be seen as applying a version of the precautionary principle.
The effects of these guidelines are still being felt through the biotechnology industry and the participation of the general public in scientific discourse. Due to potential safety hazards, scientists worldwide had halted experiments using recombinant DNA technology, which entailed combining DNAs from different organisms. After the establishment of the guidelines during the conference, scientists continued with their research, which increased fundamental knowledge about biology and the public's interest in biomedical research.

== Background: recombinant DNA technology ==
Recombinant DNA technology arose as a result of advances in biology that began in the 1950s and '60s. During these decades, a tradition of merging the structural, biochemical and informational approaches to the central problems of classical genetics became more apparent. Two main underlying concepts of this tradition were that genes consisted of DNA and that DNA encoded information that determined the processes of replication and protein synthesis. These concepts were embodied in the model of DNA produced through the combined efforts of James Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. Further research on the Watson-Crick model yielded theoretical advances that were reflected in new capacities to manipulate DNA. One of these capacities was recombinant DNA technology.

=== Experimental design ===
This technology entails the joining of DNA from different species and the subsequent insertion of the hybrid DNA into a host cell. One of the first individuals to develop recombinant DNA technology was a biochemist at Stanford by the name of Paul Berg. In his experimental design in 1974, he cleaved (cut into fragments) the monkey virus SV40. He then cleaved the double helix of another virus; an antibacterial agent known as bacteriophage lambda. In the third step, he fastened DNA from the SV40 to DNA from the bacteriophage lambda. The final step involved placing the mutant genetic material into a laboratory strain of the E. coli bacterium. This last step, however, was not completed in the original experiment.

=== Initial bio-safety concerns ===
Berg did not complete his final step due to the pleas of several fellow investigators, including Robert Pollack, who feared the biohazards associated with the last step. The SV40 was known to cause cancer tumors to develop in mice. Additionally, the E. coli bacterium (although not the strain used by Berg) inhabited the human intestinal tract. For these reasons, the other investigators feared that the final step would create cloned SV40 DNA that might escape into the environment and infect laboratory workers. These workers could then become cancer victims.
Concern about this potential biohazard, along with others, caused a group of leading researchers to send a letter to the president of the National Academy of Science (NAS). In this letter, they requested that he appoint an ad hoc committee to study the bio-safety ramifications of this new technology. This committee, called the Committee on Recombinant DNA molecules of the National Academy of Science, U.S.A., held in 1974, concluded that an international conference was necessary to resolve the issue and that until that time, scientists should halt experiments involving recombinant DNA technology.

== Asilomar Conference ==

=== Established principles ===
The Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA took place at the Asilomar Conference Center on California's Monterey Peninsula in 1975. The main goal of the conference was to address the biohazards presented by recombinant DNA technology. During the conference, the principles guiding the recommendations for how to conduct experiments using this technology safely were established. The first for dealing with potential risks was that containment should be made an essential consideration in the experimental design. A second principle was that the effectiveness of the containment should match the estimated risk as closely as possible.
The conference also suggested the use of biological barriers to limit the spread of recombinant DNA. Such biological barriers included fastidious bacterial hosts that were unable to survive in natural environments. Other barriers were nontransmissible and equally fastidious vectors (plasmids, bacteriophages, or other viruses) that were able to grow in only specified hosts.
In addition to biological barriers, the conference advocated the use of additional safety factors. One such factor was physical containment, exemplified by the use of hoods or where applicable, limited access or negative pressure laboratories. Another factor was the strict adherence to good microbiological practices, which would limit the escape of organisms from the experimental situation. Additionally, the education and training of all personnel involved in the experiments would be essential to effective containment measures.