| Abstract: | The dispute among federal agencies over regulation of commercial biotechnology has been addressed in the Federal Register by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), which says the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee of the National Institutes of Health should continue to oversee biomedical research in this area, while the Environmental Protection Agency should formulate regulatory policies for industry and resolve such issues as when a microorganism constitutes a new chemical substance. OSTP also proposes four new independent expert committees to advise the EPA, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and the National Science Foundation, and a Biotechnology Science Board to coordinate the work of the committees. |
