Biotechnology Research in an Age of Terrorism

In recent years much has happened to justify an examination of biological researchin light of national security concerns. The destructive application of biotechnologyresearch includes activities such as spreading common pathogens or transformingthem into even more lethal forms. Policymakers and the scientific community atlarge must put forth a vigorous and immediate response to this challenge. This newbook by the National Research Council recommends that the government expandexisting regulations and rely on self-governance by scientists rather than adopt intrusivenew policies. One key recommendation of the report is that the governmentshould not attempt to regulate scientific publishing but should trust scientists andjournals to screen their papers for security risks, a task some journals have alreadytaken up. With biological information and tools widely distributed, regulating onlyU.S. researchers would have little effect. A new International Forum on Biosecurityshould encourage the adoption of similar measures around the world. Seven typesof risky studies would require approval by the Institutional Biosafety Committeesthat already oversee recombinant DNA research at some 400 U.S. institutions. These'experiments of concern' include making an infectious agent more lethal and renderingvaccines powerless.