International panel calls for tighter oversight of risky pathogen studies

Research on dangerous human pathogens is essential to protect people from epidemics and pandemics, but safety rules for such work need to be tighter and more consistent around the world, according to a report released today by a broad international task force launched in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “All countries must look carefully at pathogen security, and we hope our report provides a universal framework,” said co-chair Ravindra Gupta, a virologist at the University of Cambridge. The report drew praise from scientists who acknowledge the risks of some types of virological experiments but worry more safety rules might hamper biomedical progress. It “attains a balance that has sometimes been lost in the past when the focus was on risks, with little attention paid to benefits,” says virologist Michael Imperiale of the University of Michigan. “The recommendations are reasonable.” The Pathogens Project was launched in the fall of 2022 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a group best known for its Doomsday Clock assessing nuclear and other threats. Organizers were concerned about the growing number of high-containment labs around the world that work with deadly pathogens, and the risk that an accident or a deliberate release of a virus or bacterium could spark a health catastrophe. The project also addressed concerns about so-called gain-of-function (GOF) studies, a controversial type of research that invol...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research