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Journals Pursue Guidelines on Publishing Sensitive Disease Research

(Global Security Newswire) Editors for two scientific journals are developing plans for balancing scientific interests and security concerns in publishing potential future research that could have biological weapons applications, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reported on Wednesday. Clinical Infectious Diseases and the Journal of Infectious Diseases “are developing policies that address these Read More »

March 30, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Flu Redux

(Science Now) Late last year, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) had recommended that two science teams delete key details from papers submitted to Science and Nature that describe how researchers made the H5N1 avian influenza virus more transmissible between mammals, possibly providing a blueprint for starting a flu pandemic.

March 30, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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US debuts life sciences dual-use research policy

(CIDRAP News) Federal health officials today unveiled a new policy for overseeing life sciences dual-use research, such as two recent H5N1 transmission studies that have sparked bioterror concerns as well as cries of censorship.

March 30, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Bird flu: how two mutant strains led to an international controversy

(The Guardian) The advisory board’s reaction has sparked a rare crisis in science. The US government backed the NSABB, but many researchers say the work must be published in full, arguing public health will benefit. A group convened by the WHO recommended full disclosure, but ordered an urgent review of the security and safety of Read More »

March 30, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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H5N1: Bungling dual-use governance

(Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) Recent months have seen an increasingly confusing debate about new research on the adaptability and transmissibility of avian influenza A/H5N1, which was undertaken by groups in the Netherlands and the United States. Both studies were funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), and research results were sent for Read More »