Organisations address laboratory research safeguards
combat terrorism by issuing a statement that aims to reduce the
risk of sensitive laboratory research being used in bioterrorism.
The Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Wellcome Trust have released the joint statement in an attempt to ease public concern that bioscience laboratory research could be misused in the development of bioweapons.
The statement detailed a series of recommended measures that could well be implemented in the future, safeguarding sensitive research.
According to the US National Academy of Sciences, there are seven areas of research identified as being open to potential misuse, of which attention must be paid to its security.
The academy placed the threat of rendering vaccines ineffective as significant as was the creation of resistance to antibiotic or antiviral drugs.
There was also concern that increasing the potency of a disease-causing organism (pathogen) or making a non-pathogen virulent would be an area vulnerable to exploitation.
Other areas include the increasing likelihood of a pathogen being transmitted, making it able to spread more widely.
The academy was also concerned of the methods that could be employed in avoiding diagnostic or disease detection systems, enabling a biological agent or toxin to be transformed into a weapon.
The three UK bodies have taken the unprecedented step to strengthen existing preventative measures whilst at the same time communicating these responses to the scientific community of future intentions.
The statement said that after consultation with members of funding and advisory committees across the three organisations, an agreement was reached to change policy statements, guidance and procedures in four areas:
•Introduction of a question on application forms asking applicants to consider risks of misuse associated with their proposal;
•Explicit mention of risks of misuse in guidance to referees as an issue to consider;
•Development of clear guidance for funding committees on this issue and the process for assessing cases where concerns have been raised;
•Modification of organisational guidelines on good practice in research to include specific reference to risks of misuse.
Dr Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust said: "We understand that many people are alarmed by the threat of bioterrorism. But we need to balance these fears with sensible and practical measures that will help us manage such risks while ensuring that the benefits of research are realised."
"We hope the policies we have adopted both reassure the public and encourage the scientific community to remain vigilant to the risks of misuse. There are many deadly infectious agents and it is vital for public health that the scientific community can pursue legitimate research to understand and treat these diseases," he added.
Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council added that the medical research community recognised the concerns about possible harmful uses of civil research.
"These additional safeguards in our assessment processes will draw such issues more clearly to the attention of applicants for MRC funding and encourage them to address any areas for potential misuse of their research at the earliest possible stage," he said.
