Monday, the National Research Council released a report that finds “several major shortcomings” in a U.S. Department of Homeland Security assessment of risks associated with operating the proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kan. The National Research Council review of the DHS risk assessment finds that there is nearly a 70 percent chance over the 50-year lifetime of the facility that a release of Foot and Mouth Disease could result in an infection outside the laboratory, impacting the economy by estimates of $9 billion to $50 billion.
The planned National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility will be a state-of-the-art containment facility that will support programs that the nation and others will turn to as a global reference, training and research laboratory for foreign animal diseases. As a biosafety level 4 pathogen facility, the NBAF will be a high-containment laboratory with the ability to carry out critical research on agents that pose serious threats to U.S. animal and human heath by using large animals, such as cattle and swine.
Biosafety level assignments were created by the Centers for Disease Control to classify the relative danger to the surrounding environment. Biosafety level designations increase as the potential consequences of exposure to research materials become more hazardous. A Level 4 biosafety facility works with dangerous and exotic agents that pose a high individual risk of aerosol-transmitted laboratory infections, agents for which vaccines or other treatments are not available.
Recent publications of the National Research Council discuss aspects of research with select agents, including lab safety and security. This year the NRC has published reports to evaluate several high containment facilities, including the proposed Kansas site. These studies and other related titles can inform and guide discussion about research priorities, safety concerns, and dual-use issues.
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Congress requested that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) produce a site-specific biosafety and biosecurity risk assessment (SSRA) of the proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas. The laboratory would study… |
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Sequence-Based Classification of Select Agents: A Brighter Line Select Agents are defined in regulations through a list of names of particularly dangerous known bacteria, viruses, toxins, and fungi. However, natural variation and intentional genetic modification blur the boundaries of any discrete Select Agent list based… |
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The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick, Maryland, is designed to handle pathogens that cause serious or potentially lethal diseases, which require the research performed on them be contained to specialized laboratories…. |
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In 2003, the Boston University Medical Center (BUMC) was awarded a $128 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to build one of two high- and maximum- containment laboratory facilities for research on biological pathogens. The National Emerging… |
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Following the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the anthrax letters, the ability to detect biological threats as quickly as possible became a top priority. In 2003 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) introduced the BioWatch program–a federal monitoring… |
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Challenges and Opportunities for Education About Dual Use Issues in the Life Sciences The Challenges and Opportunities for Education About Dual Use Issues in the Life Sciences workshop was held to engage the life sciences community on the particular security issues related to research with dual use potential. More than 60 participants from… |
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Responsible Research with Biological Select Agents and Toxins The effort to understand and combat infectious diseases has, during the centuries, produced many key advances in science and medicine–including the development of vaccines, drugs, and other treatments. A subset of this research is conducted with agents that,… |
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The same technologies that fuel scientific advances also pose potential risks–that the knowledge, tools, and techniques gained through legitimate biotechnology research could be misused to create biological weapons or for bioterrorism. This is often called… |
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Department of Homeland Security Bioterrorism Risk Assessment: A Call for Change The mission of Department of Homeland Security Bioterrorism Risk Assessment: A Call for Change, the book published in December 2008, is to independently and scientifically review the methodology that led to the 2006 Department of Homeland… |
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Test and Evaluation of Biological Standoff Detection Systems: Abbreviated Version A biological warfare agent (BWA) is a microorganism, or a toxin derived from a living organism, that causes disease in humans, plants, or animals or that causes the deterioration of material. The effectiveness of a BWA is greatly reduced if the attack is… |
