The Biosecurity Trust

The life-sciences community has grown increasingly concerned that dangerous microbes or their products might be mishandled or misused, with serious harm done to human or ecosystem health locally, regionally, or globally. The community has sought to address this concern in cooperation with responsibl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioscience 2003-03, Vol.53 (3), p.270-277
Main Author: SPRINKLE, ROBERT H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Biological & chemical terrorism
Biological & chemical weapons
Biological sciences
biological weapons
Biosecurity
Biosecurity Trust
Bioterrorism
Community Relations
Corporations
DEPARTMENTS
Environment
Expectation
Field Tests
Funding
global security
Inspection
microbial ecology
microbial environment
National security
Pathogens
Scientists
Sustainable agriculture
Toxins
Weapons
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Summary:The life-sciences community has grown increasingly concerned that dangerous microbes or their products might be mishandled or misused, with serious harm done to human or ecosystem health locally, regionally, or globally. The community has sought to address this concern in cooperation with responsible governments, but it has also sought to act in ways not chiefly dependent on governmental initiatives or intergovernmental agreements. Concurrently, it has sought to obviate policies materially restricting scientific, entrepreneurial, or commercial freedoms. I ask whether the enhancement of biosecurity and the advancement of bioscience should be accepted as divergent or might yet be made complementary, so as to be accomplished jointly. To encourage discussion of this latter possibility, I propose an institutional innovation, a transnational, nongovernmental life-sciences organization called here “The Biosecurity Trust.”
ISSN:0006-3568
1525-3244
DOI:10.1641/0006-3568(2003)053[0270:TBT]2.0.CO;2