Summary statement of the Asilomar conference on recombinant DNA molecules.

Several of the molecular biologists who gathered at the Asilomar Conference Grounds reported back on the conference shortly after its conclusion. They stated their general agreement that the voluntary moratorium called for the previous year need not continue. The researchers laid out the criteria for responsible research, focusing on managing risks (which remained largely unknown) with technical forms of containment rather than limits on risky research. These included laboratory infrastructure and physical barriers like safety cabinets; procedural risk management in the form of strict training and adherence to guidelines; and biological barriers such as “disarming” hosts and vectors. This summary and the Asilomar Conference became indicators of scientists’ capacities for self-governance and for the limits of potentially controversial research agendas to be determined by technical forms of knowledge and expertise.