Following up on a July 2010 Executive Order, a panel of experts released a report yesterday (H/T ScienceInsider) outlining 11 agents that they want to classify as Tier 1 select agents. Such a designation would require higher levels of security and precaution than most other pathogens and toxins used in biomedical research. Additionally, the report has recommended removing 19 pathogens and 6 toxins from the current list of 82 agents that trigger additional scrutiny. This is not the end of the process outlined in the Executive Order, but somewhere in the middle.
Besides revisions to the list, the report outlines additional measures to take in the screening and monitoring of individuals who have access to these compounds. This connects (intentionally or otherwise) to the case of Bruce Ivins, an anthrax researcher who committed suicide in 2008 and is considered by the FBI as the sole culprit of various anthrax attacks in 2001. (The National Academies says this conclusion is not as definitive as the FBI claims, but does not dispute Ivins’ involvement) There are also recommendations for physical and cybersecurity for facilities handling select agents.
As evidence suggesting that this review was long overdue, I offer one of the ongoing recommendations from page 14:
“As was also identified in previous assessments of the SAP, the use of the term “mental defective” is antiquated and unhelpful as part of the list of disqualifiers for the SRA. The FESAP will work with SMEs, including those from the Substances Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), to identify options for revising that language in existing statute.”
An unknown in this equation is how the implementation of the new screening procedures will be handled. The FBI does not have the strongest relationship with the biomedical research community, and it’s not clear if these new procedures will do much to improve it, especially if the process carries the adversarial quality possible with interactions involving law enforcement.
Pasco Phronesis 