Mason Inman - science journalist

2007-07-05, 21:26:30

Yesterday when I was at the public library here in Cambridge, Mass, someone's bike outside had a sticker on it protesting a bioterrorism lab that was planned for Boston. The lab was meant to research deadly things like anthrax, so that we could have a better defense in case of a bioterrorism attack.

But bioterrorism labs in our backyards may be like guns in the home: they're meant to protect us, but actually they could be more likely to accidentally kill us.

An article in New Scientist today lists various accidents at bioterrorism labs around the U.S.

Ed Hammond of the Sunshine Project, a biosafety pressure group based in Austin, Texas, US, who after persistent requests got the minutes of university biosafety committees using the US Freedom of Information Act. The minutes are accessible to the public by law.

The minutes show that these labs often fail to report when there have been accidents. It's no surprise why. If they do report an accident, then the shit hits the fan; they don't report these things for the same reason no one likes to have their boss looking over their shoulder—because everyone messes up. 

But these screw-ups really matter, and it seems we should be worried about it. Maybe in this case the best defense is no defense. I guess it all depends, though, how paranoid you are that there are people out there who are trying to get their hands on bioweapons.