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biodefense and self-censorship
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Bernard Lang
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Feb 17, 2003 06:07 PST
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Without comments, you will find below:
- an editorial from Nature (15 February 2003)
Statement on the consideration of biodefence and biosecurity
- un article de l'AFP en francais sur le meme sujet
Science et terrorisme : les revues scientifiques appellent à la prudence
Comments welcome
Tous commentaires bienvenus
Cordialement
Bernard Lang
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NATURE| 15 FEBRUARY 2003 (advance online publication)
This article will appear in the 20 February 2003 issue of Nature. The
full citation for it is "Nature 421, 771 (2003);
advance online publication, 15 February 2003.
editorials
Statement on the consideration of biodefence and biosecurity
As discussed in a Commentary by Tony Fauci on page 787, the threat of
bioterrorism requires active consideration by scientists. On 9 January
2003, the US National Academy of Sciences held a discussion meeting on
the balance between scientific openness and security (see Nature 421,
197; 2003). The next day, a group of editors met to discuss the issues
with specific reference to the scientific publication process. The
following statement has emerged from that meeting. The statement was
conceived in a US context, but the principles discussed will be
considered and followed through by Nature and its related journals in
their international arenas.
The process of scientific publication, through which new findings
are reviewed for quality and then presented to the rest of the
scientific community and the public, is a vital element in our
national life. New discoveries reported in research papers have helped
improve the human condition in myriad ways: protecting public health,
multiplying agricultural yields, fostering technological development
and economic growth, and enhancing global stability and security.
But new science, as we know, may sometimes have costs as well as
benefits. The prospect that weapons of mass destruction might find
their way into the hands of terrorists did not suddenly appear on 11
September 2001. A policy focus on nuclear proliferation, no stranger
to the physics community, has been with us for many years. But the
events of 11 September brought a new understanding of the urgency of
dealing with terrorism. And the subsequent harmful use of infectious
agents brought a new set of issues to the life sciences. As a result,
questions have been asked by the scientists themselves and by some
political leaders about the possibility that new information published
in research journals might give aid to those with malevolent ends.
Journals that dealt especially with microbiology, infectious agents,
public health and plant and agricultural systems faced these issues
earlier than some others, and have attempted to deal with them. The
American Society for Microbiology, in particular, urged the National
Academy of Sciences to take an active role in organizing a meeting of
publishers, scientists, security experts and government officials to
explore the issues and discuss what steps might be taken to resolve
them. In a one-day workshop at the Academy in Washington on 9 January
2003, an open forum was held for that purpose. A day later, a group of
journal editors, augmented by scientist-authors, government officials
and others, held a separate meeting designed to explore possible
approaches.
What follows reflects some outcomes of that preliminary
discussion. Fundamental is a view, shared by nearly all, that there is
information that, although we cannot now capture it with lists or
definitions, presents enough risk of use by terrorists that it should
not be published. How and by what processes it might be identified
will continue to challenge us, because Ñ as all present acknowledged Ñ
it is also true that open publication brings benefits not only to
public health but also in efforts to combat terrorism.
The statements
First: The scientific information published in peer-reviewed research
journals carries special status, and confers unique responsibilities
on editors and authors. We must protect the integrity of the
scientific process by publishing manuscripts of high quality, in
sufficient detail to permit reproducibility. Without independent
verification Ñ a requirement for scientific progress Ñ we can neither
advance biomedical research nor provide the knowledge base for
building strong biodefence systems.
Second: We recognize that the prospect of bioterrorism has raised
legitimate concerns about the potential abuse of published
information, but also recognize that research in the very same fields
will be critical to society in meeting the challenges of defence. We
are committed to dealing responsibly and effectively with safety and
security issues that may be raised by papers submitted for
publication, and to increasing our capacity to identify such issues as
they arise.
Third: Scientists and their journals should consider the appropriate
level and design of processes to accomplish effective review of papers
that raise such security issues. Journals in disciplines that have
attracted numbers of such papers have already devised procedures that
might be employed as models in considering process design. Some of us
represent some of those journals; others among us are committed to the
timely implementation of such processes, about which we will notify
our readers and authors.
Fourth: We recognize that on occasions an editor may conclude that
the potential harm of publication outweighs the potential societal
benefits. Under such circumstances, the paper should be modified, or
not be published. Scientific information is also communicated by
other means: seminars, meetings, electronic posting, etc. Journals and
scientific societies can play an important role in encouraging
investigators to communicate results of research in ways that maximize
public benefits and minimize risks of misuse.
JOURNAL EDITORS AND AUTHORS GROUP:
Ronald Atlas, President, American Society for Microbiology (ASM), and
Editor, CRC Critical Reviews in Microbiology
Philip Campbell, Editor, Nature
Nicholas R. Cozzarelli, Editor, Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences
Greg Curfman, Deputy Editor, New England Journal of Medicine
Lynn Enquist, Editor, Journal of Virology Gerald Fink, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
Annette Flanagin, Managing Senior Editor, Journal of the American
Medical Association, and President, Council of Science Editors
Jacqueline Fletcher, President, American Phytopathological Society
Elizabeth George, Program Manager, National Nuclear Security
Administration, Department of Energy
Gordon Hammes, Editor, Biochemistry
David Heyman, Senior Fellow and Director of Science and Security
Initiatives, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Thomas Inglesby, Editor, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism
Samuel Kaplan, Chair, ASM Publications Board Donald Kennedy, Editor, Science
Judith Krug, Director, Office for Intellectual Freedom, American
Library Association
Rachel Levinson, Assistant Director for Life Sciences, Office of
Science and Technology Policy
Emilie Marcus, Editor, Neuron
Henry Metzger, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health
Stephen S. Morse, Columbia University
Alison O'Brien, Editor, Infection and Immunity
Andrew Onderdonk, Editor, Journal of Clinical Microbiology
George Poste, Chief Executive Officer, Health Technology Networks
Beatrice Renault, Editor, Nature Medicine
Robert Rich, Editor, Journal of Immunology
Ariella Rosengard, University of Pennsylvania
Steven Salzburg, The Institute for Genome Research
Mary Scanlan, Director, Publishing Operations, American Chemical Society
Thomas Shenk, President-Elect, ASM, and Past Editor, Journal of Virology
Herbert Tabor, Editor, Journal of Biological Chemistry
Harold Varmus
Eckard Wimmer, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Keith Yamamoto, Editor, Molecular Biology of the Cell
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Science et terrorisme : les revues scientifiques appellent à la prudence
par Pascal BAROLLIER
DENVER (Etats-Unis), 15 fév (AFP) - Les directeurs des principales
revues scientifiques mondiales ont appelé samedi à la prudence et à la
vigilance quant à la publication d'études potentiellement exploitables
par des terroristes pour la mise au point d'armes chimiques ou
bactériologiques.
Ces responsables de grandes revues, plutôt que de se voir soumis à
une réglementation gouvernementale limitant leurs libertés, ont appelé
les scientifiques à une «auto-discipline», dans le choix des études
publiées et les détails fournis dans ces publications.
Comment peut-on définir la «science dangereuse»? s'interrogent les
scientifiques en estimant que le risque est difficile à cerner.
Néanmoins «tous les travaux qui pourraient être utilisés par des
terroristes dans des buts néfastes ne doivent pas être publiés»,
écrivent les chercheurs dont le communiqué conjoint a été présenté
samedi par Ron Atlas, président de la Société américaine de
microbiologie.
Pour ce faire, estiment les responsables scientifiques,
«chercheurs et revues devraient considérer la mise en place d'un
processus pour l'examen des travaux à risque, et si le risque
potentiel est supérieur aux bénéfices, les directeurs de publication
devraient modifier les articles ou refuser de les publier».
Les signataires du texte soulignent cependant que les revues
doivent «protéger l'intégrité du processus scientifique en publiant
des travaux de haut niveau, avec suffisamment de détails pour
permettre (à ces travaux) d'être reproduits».
Sans la possibilité d'une vérification indépendante des résultats
exposés, ont-ils insisté, «nous ne pouvons ni faire avancer la
recherche biomédicale, ni fournir les connaissances pour construire
des systèmes de défense biologique forts».
Ce communiqué conjoint a été publié à Denver (Colorado, ouest)
lors de la réunion annuelle de l'Association américaine pour les
progrès de la science (AAAS).
Il doit être reproduit la semaine prochaine par les revues
scientifiques signataires, parmi lesquelles les Comptes rendus de
l'Académie nationale des sciences (PNAS) américaines, les revues
britannique Nature et américaine Science.
Cette prise de position résulte d'une réunion entre les principaux
éditeurs de revue scientifique organisée les 9 et 10 janvier à
Washington sous l'égide de l'Académie nationale des sciences et du
Centre pour la sécurité et les études internationales (CSIS), à la
demande de la Société américaine de microbiologie qui s'inquiétait
d'une volonté du gouvernement américain de réglementer les
publications scientifiques dites «sensibles».
«Il reste vrai que la publication ouverte bénéficie non seulement
à la santé publique mais aussi aux efforts de lutte contre le
terrorisme», ont souligné les auteurs du texte.
Dans un éditorial qui accompagnera sa publication dans la revue
Science, son directeur Donald Kennedy rappelle que les tensions entre
communauté scientifique et responsables de la sécurité ne sont pas
nouvelles. Elles «ont émergé d'une façon très problématique au début
des années 80» quand des réglementations pour empêcher le transfert de
technologies vers les pays communistes ont été appliquées à la
recherche fondamentale.
Tout en constatant «le gouffre entre les communautés scientifiques
et responsables de la sécurité» M. Kennedy a appelé «les deux
communautés à se rassembler pour le bien commun».
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Non aux Brevets Logiciels - No to Software Patents
SIGNEZ http://petition.eurolinux.org/ SIGN
Bernar-@inria.fr ,_ /\o \o/ Tel +33 1 3963 5644
http://pauillac.inria.fr/~lang/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Fax +33 1 3963 5469
INRIA / B.P. 105 / 78153 Le Chesnay CEDEX / France
Je n'exprime que mon opinion - I express only my opinion
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