Antipodal Biosecurity? Oversight of Dual Use Research in the United States and Australia

The creation of a virulent mousepox virus in Australia and publication of this experiment in 2001 are often argued to mark a dangerous turn in dual use research (1). After this experiment and – far more consequential – September 11 and the anthrax letters, the oversight of dual use research in the life sciences received considerable attention in the United States. We argue that the American experience provides valuable lessons for Australia, three of which are highlighted here. First, the international community is ill-equipped to govern the life sciences. Like the United States, Australia should therefore help itself through national regulations and oversight. Second, like most special interest groups, scientists prefer self-regulation. While this may be a practical solution for scientific publications, federally funded research warrants independent review as a condition of funding. Third, in order to provide independent review, oversight should be truly multidisciplinary, including social, political, and biological expertise. A multidisciplinary approach stands the best chance of balancing the risks and rewards of dual use research. Think global, act national The risks and rewards of dual use research have global implications. Despite repeated calls for international leadership, however, the World Health Organization (WHO) has followed rather than led member states, and it is unlikely to adopt a more assertive role. The WHO rarely issues advice on biological weapons (although it helps monitor some smallpox research), and it said little about dual use until after the National Academies in the United States published the influential Fink Report confronting this dilemma in 2004 (2). In 2010, the WHO published its own anodyne guidance on “responsible life sciences research,” which acknowledges the “important role of WHO to lead” but then concedes to a “country-based approach” (3). Moreover, when faced with experiments that increased the transmissibility of H5N1 influenza (4, 5), the WHO sought to distance itself from any suggestion that it might assume additional responsibilities for oversight, focusing instead on “ad hoc solutions” to this particular controversy (6). Simply put, the WHO lacks the resources and will necessary to govern research, so states must act on their own. Of course, the United States was never waiting for the WHO. American guidance and oversight of dual use research draws on an older system devised for recombinant DNA research that dates back to the Asilomar Conference in 1975. The Fink Report, for instance, argued that “we now need