科学政策

The “What if?” of Dual-Use Research Awareness

06.12.08 | 7 min read | 文字Michael Stebbins

原理很简单。某些生命科学研究的产品,信息和技术可能是出于邪恶目的而被滥用的,例如生物恐怖主义,科学界应竭尽所能防止这种滥用,而不会阻碍研究进展。不清楚科学家对这种“双重使用”研究的担忧时应采取的步骤。

The problem is that we (myself included) have not taken the long-view on this issue.

Dual-use research has been the subject of much discussion in the biosecurity community since the 2003 release of the National Research Council report,Biotechnology Research in the Age of Terrorism,这表明,“充分解决了敌对政党可能会滥用高级生物技术研究的潜在风险,这将需要教育生命科学家社区,包括这些风险的性质以及科学家的责任来解决和管理它们。透明但是,说服科学家应该将双重用途的研究意识和评估添加到他们已经很长的特质烦恼清单中,这比任何人想象中的人都困难得多。

Enter the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity. In June of last year, the NSABB released theirProposed Framework for the Oversight of Dual Use Life Sciences Research, in which the board recommend that life scientists receive “mandatory education about dual-use research issues and policies,” with the goal of “ensure(ing) that all individuals engaged in life sciences research are aware of the concerns and issues regarding dual use research and their roles and responsibilities in the oversight of such research.”

In addition to mandatory training, both the National Research Council and the NSABB have advocated for the creation of codes of conduct for life sciences researchers that includes dual-use awareness. Now, research societies are preparing and implementing their codes of conduct, infusing another layer of awareness into the research community.

的确,不久之后,必须强制执行生命科学中的所有联邦受赠人接受这种培训,并且所有生物学家都签署了行为守则。意识将像快乐的小蒲公英一样传播。直到有人指出他们是杂草。

Don’t get me wrong. I am an advocate of mandatory training and think codes of conduct are a good tool for increasing awareness. Not least of the reasons for my support being that the Federation of American Scientists arguably has the most extensive dual-use training materials available to date in the form of our multimediaCase Studies in Dual-Use Research. Wide distribution of these case studies and materials created by other groups has been a goal of ours from the time we started the project.

The problem is that we (myself included) have not taken the long-view on this issue. If we dramatically increase awareness, then we also increase the chances that scientists will have concerns about dual-use research or worse—suspicions that a colleague is up to no good. What the NSABB, National Research Council and the biosecurity community on the whole have failed to fully address is how those researchers should attend to their concerns. Government-issued guidelines for researchers will only get them so far.

由于负责任的研究人员的一部分职责肯定会报告不安全的实验或可疑行为,因此制定了行为守则和培训,所有科学家都可以使每位工作生物学家的潜在举报者成为潜在的举报人。这立即为科学家获得建议并报告其担忧的方案和方法即时需要。

There is currently no reliable independent system in place for these researchers to report or receive advice on how to handle their concerns.

众所周知,向执法部门,主管,生物安全官员或机构审查委员会报告此类事件的主要障碍是对报复的恐惧。科学界的一些成员也可能会加剧这一点,尤其是不信任政府官员,尤其是执法部门。这从实验室技术人员和支持人员到主要研究人员。即使没有犯规的迹象,科学家也可能会觉得在其机构中进行了严重的双重用途含义,或者对进行他们及其同事的人来说是危险的。

There is currently no reliable independent system in place for these researchers to report or receive advice on how to handle their concerns. Such a system would be a valuable contribution to strengthening biosecurity awareness and participation within the biological research community. It should be pointed out that such a system is a good way to get across the idea that official whistle-blowing is not the first and only resort.

我和其他人建议我们需要建立一个基于互联网的安全系统,科学家将能够报告他们的疑虑,并就他们应该或不应该采取的步骤收到建议和建议。担心自然会在如何填写有关赠款的双重用途报告表的范围内,以报告实验室中潜在的非法情况。重要的是,政府不操纵系统以确保购买。相反,应由非政府组织运营的申诉专员网络,该组织将允许部分匿名。

In the event that a clear cause of action is required, such as when a law is being broken, a non-government organization would be well-placed to help facilitate conversations with law enforcement, make queries on the behalf of the scientist to government, or alleviate concerns without endangering their status at the institute.

The system will have to be backed by a large group of advisors, including experts from multiple science disciplines, ethicists, legal and law enforcement representatives to ensure that users are receiving timely and accurate advice. The system administrator will have to be available at all times and have constant access to advisors in the case of a serious problem.

科学家的一个主要关注点是保存匿名性。可以简单地解决这个问题,使员工在不透露科学家身份的情况下将查询供应到顾问。但是,总匿名不能完全保存在这样的系统中。

In principle, users will turn to this system when they feel uncomfortable reporting concerns within their institution or when they are unsure of who to turn to. Responses will either ask for further information, clarification, or report back advice on the appropriate course of action.

Users must also feel comfortable that the information they divulge will not be released to anyone unless they approve it. This can be accomplished by making users agree to simple terms before sending their query. Those terms will detail operation standards and will inform users under which conditions the managers have a legal responsibility to inform appropriate authorities, and that they may be contacted by such authorities directly in the event that a law has been or is about to be broken.

响应和可自定义的电子表格的详细记录将使我们能够提供有用的帮助,并告知用户其权利以及可能及时适用于他们的法律。应该强调的是,如果用户报告迫在眉睫的威胁,他们将自动收到有关应与谁联系的说明。ReportsReports在开发生物安全报告系统时,必须解决一些重要问题:其中包括金博宝正规网址:

Whistleblower Laws.美国有一套完善的“whistleblower” laws that protect people from reprisals for reporting. There are several excellent non-profit groups that specialize in this area and it will be important to bring them in for legal advice and possibly to present a series of Frequently Asked Questions on the site for scientists to learn about their options.

Legal Advice.我们将需要有关广泛问题的法律建议,包括与提供建议,维持匿名性相关的责任,在法律上有义务与执法金博宝正规网址部门联系的情况以及适用用户的适用法律的情况。

Advisory Boards.An advisory board consisting of scientists, ethicists, biosecurity experts, and legal advisors will have to be brought in for the design and implementation. A second advisory board will have to be available for advice on individual cases. It will be important to have a wide array of expertise and knowledge on hand to address any reports that come in.

Law Enforcement Guidelines. A clear relationship with law enforcement will need to be established so that in the event that there is a user who is uncomfortable going to law enforcement themselves, we would be able to report an incident on their behalf.

测试. It will be necessary to test the system through a series of table-top scenarios that provide challenges to our response times and content.

It is a virtual certainty that this type of system would eventually be abused maliciously against other scientists trying to slow down a competitor, or exact revenge. In that sense, the system itself would have dual-use potential and like science, safeguards and awareness will reduce, but might not eliminate, unfortunate incidences.

It is also hard to predict how often such a system would be used and what percentage of the time it would receive cranks. But it is equally unclear to what degree dual-use research is a threat to national security. If we are going to require scientists to learn about the potential for misuse, then it is essential that they have a place to turn if they recognize potential misuse or have questions about complying with legal and ethical requirements.

Michael Stebbins is the Director of Biology Policy for theFederation of American Scientists, President of the海上行动基金and author of性,毒品和DNA:科学的禁忌面临.