Fwd: biotechnology secrets

[Guest guest]

I wonder what the justifications for such research (that needs to be

kept out of " terrorist " hands) are in the first place....

 

Kind regards

Sepp

 

 

 

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4219692.stm>Experts guard access to research

 

 

 

 

 

Access to studies will be carefully policed

 

 

Medical research bodies are joining together in a bid to reduce the

risk of sensitive medical research falling into the hands of

terrorists.

 

The Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust and the Biotechnology

and Biological Sciences Research Council are seeking to assuage

public concerns.

 

They have agreed a series of measures to safeguard sensitive studies.

 

The move follows public concerns bioscience research could be misused

in the development of bioweapons.

 

There are seven areas of research identified by the US National

Academy of Sciences as being open to potential misuse, and which

therefore need to be closely guarded:

 

Rendering vaccines ineffective

Creating resistance to antibiotic or antiviral drugs

Increasing the potency of a disease-causing organism (pathogen) or

making a non-pathogen virulent

Increasing the likelihood of a pathogen being transmitted

Making it able to spread more widely

Avoiding diagnostic or disease detection systems

Enabling a biological agent or toxin to be transformed into a weapon

 

 

Scientists say research into harmful biological pathogens and toxins

has to continue to aid the fight against the disease they cause, and

to improve the response to any bioterror attacks.

 

But the three UK bodies have strengthened existing protocols to

increase awareness amongst the scientific community and identify and

assess risks of misuse even at the initial grant application stage.

 

There will also be changes to funding application forms, new guidance

for funding committees and a tightening of organisational guidelines

on good practice in research.

 

Alarm

 

Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council,

said: " The medical research community recognises that there are

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.

 

" Such measures on their own will not prevent the efforts of a

determined terrorist, but this is a positive step by the research

community to raise awareness and reduce the risks. "

 

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. "

 

Professor Julia Goodfellow, chief executive of the Biotechnology and

Biological Sciences Research Council, said: " This risk is not new,

nor is it restricted to high-tech areas of science or those directly

related to human health. "

 

 

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The individual is supreme and finds its way through intuition.

 

Sepp Hasslberger