A Survey of Attitudes and Actions on Dual Use Research in the Life Sciences A Collaborative Effort of the National Research Council and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2009) / Chapter Skim
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, Seeking Security: Pathogens, Open Access, and Genome Databases (NRC 2004b) , and Globalization, Biosecurity, and the Future of the Life Sciences (NRC 2006a)
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The discussions underscored how little data exist about levels of awareness and attitudes about biosecurity issues in the life sciences community and highlighted the critical need to move beyond anecdotes to empirical evidence. Building on the results of their 2005 planning meeting, CSTSP and NRC developed a plan to survey a sample of AAAS members in the life sciences about their knowledge of dual use issues and attitudes about their responsibilities to help mitigate the risks of misuse of their research.
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This leads to a response rate of about 16 percent for completed surveys and 20 percent including partial responses. Almost all of the respondents had conducted or managed life sciences research (and three-quarters of them are currently doing so)
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Overall, the survey findings suggest that there may be considerable support for models of oversight that rely on the responsible conduct of research and self-governance by the scientific community. The responses also suggest, however, that there is a critical need to clarify the scope of research activities of high concern and to determine the appropriate actions that members of the life sciences community can take to reduce the risk of misuse of science for biological weapons development and bioterrorism.
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The survey results suggest that: (1) some life scientists in the United States may be willing to consider self-governance aimed at the responsible scientific conduct for dual use research, and (2)
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The survey suggests that most of the respondents (82 percent) favor their professional societies' prescribing a code of responsible conduct to help prevent misuse of life sciences research.
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Institutions should provide mandatory training for 55 scientists regarding dual use life sciences research. Greater restrictions should be placed on access to 47 specific biological agents or toxins.
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scientific community for measures that, taken together, could lead to the development of a system of self-governance for the oversight of key aspects of dual use research. Education and Outreach A major reason for conducting the survey was to inform efforts for education and awareness-raising about dual use research by providing empirical data on the attitudes of a sample of the life sciences community.
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Based on the survey results and its own analysis, the committee believes that there is support for mandatory education and training about dual use issues, most likely as part of ethics and responsible conduct of research training. RECOMMENDATIONS The committee believes that the survey raises several hypotheses that merit further research about the views of life scientists about oversight policies and education and outreach efforts to address concerns about dual use issues in the life sciences.
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life scientists that better represent the full community, with higher response rates than the current study was able to achieve, and the ability to assess potential bias, in order to gain • a better understanding of the awareness of a broader range of U.S. life scientists about dual use research of concern and the measure that they would support to reduce the threat that research in the life sciences could be subverted to do harm; • a better understanding of the types of behavioral changes being made in response to dual use concerns to determine if actions by life scientists are contributing to national security or harming scientific research; such research is critical given the actions that the current survey suggests are being taken; • more detailed information about the types of changes scientists are making or scientists' thoughts about dual use issues, experiments of concern, and select agents; • a better understanding of scientists' experiences with education on this topic and their views about the content and delivery of educational and training materials.
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