The best way to defeat bioterrorism might be to encourage bioscience in countries considered easy targets for terrorists trying to get hold of a biological weapon.
Fear of terrorism is making the developed world clamp down on the spread of bioscience to developing countries, because poor security could allow terrorists access to the technology for bioweapons. Not only is that unfair, because it prevents such countries enjoying the benefits of biotechnology in food, medicine and other areas, but it could be counterproductive, says Abdallah S. Daar in a report from the University of Toronto鈥檚 Joint Centre for Bioethics in Canada.
鈥淲hat we are proposing is counter-intuitive, but if we create an infrastructure, we will have a large number of scientists who are familiar with bioterrorism, who can notice early signs and stop it happening,鈥� Daar says. Building the capacity for biological research in developing countries will encourage the development of regulatory regimes, professional codes of conduct and opportunities for international collaboration, he says.
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The report also calls for leaders of G8 countries to endorse a 鈥渘etwork of networks鈥� that would alert authorities to possible misuses of technology. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unavoidable that there will be some biotechnological development in these countries,鈥� Daar says. 鈥淭he question is, do you want to shine light on it, or do you want it to happen outside your knowledge?鈥�