Governance of Dual Use Research in the Life Sciences Advancing Global Consensus on Research Oversight: Proceedings of a Workshop (2018) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 1-6
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The opening remarks from the host organizations provided the context for the workshop. Continuing rapid developments in the life sciences offer the promise of providing tools to meet global challenges in health, agriculture, the environment, and economic development; some of the benefits are already being realized.
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This workshop reflects continuing concerns that the knowledge, tools, and techniques resulting from life sciences research could also enable the development of bioweapons or facilitate bioterrorism. Certain life sciences research is thus "dual use;" that is, although intended to serve beneficial purposes, it could also be misused to cause harm.2 The workshop did not address the broader set of social, ethical, and legal implications associated with international governance of life sciences research, although experiences in other domains may be relevant to approaches to governance in response to biosecurity concerns.
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She also encouraged participants to think broadly about how to create strong, flexible, and anticipatory systems of governance for dual use life sciences research. Additionally, she suggested that there were new developments, such as the genome editing technology CRISPR,3 that represent a step-level change in the capacity and availability of technology that may require existing governance systems to be adapted and amended.
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Governance can thus be developed through additional means, such as networks and codes of conduct. She suggested that effective implementation required going beyond "box-checking" exercises, where there may be inadequate consideration of the context or meaning of the boxes, adding that the effectiveness of governance frameworks depends on a number of different factors. These include • principles for dual use governance that are well written, encom passing, and understood by those affected; • established norms of responsible conduct of research, something that requires engaging with scientists and encouraging them to consider such issues proactively, ideally before starting research projects; • cultural change, and she suggested that there is no point in intro ducing codes of conduct if the organizational culture does not view compliance with such codes as important; and • outreach, education, and training efforts to make sure that people are aware of codes and other governance measures.
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The planning committee's role was limited to organizing and convening the workshop. This workshop and proceedings address a major and complex set of issues in governance of life sciences research.
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