Life Sciences and Related Fields Trends Relevant to the Biological Weapons Convention (2011) / Chapter Skim
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5 Monitoring and Assessing Trends in Science and Technology
5 Monitoring and Assessing Trends in Science and Technology
Pages 93-118
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From page 93... ...
Taking account of developments in S&T in ways that are useful to the BWC will require States Parties and experts in Geneva to have a reasonable grasp of the state of the science as it evolves, including a sense of the forces that drive different areas at different rates and the inevitable roadblocks that hamper progress. Input from experts from the broader scientific community, in conjunction with government technical experts, who often are also practicing scientists, may be particularly suited to the task of understanding these factors.
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From page 94... ...
To date, for example, the substantial investments in systems and synthetic biology have yielded only limited commercial products. Commercial markets are a powerful driver of life sciences research, in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries as well as in sectors such as agriculture and energy.
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From page 95... ...
company product have been used to help stimulate this field. Public health disease surveillance networks are another area with limited commercial markets but clear national and international benefits and that also rely on government and nonprofit investments.
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From page 96... ...
For areas that do not appear to have strong commercial market drivers, government investments may also be particularly important in advancing the field. 5.1.2 Roadblocks Discussions of advances in science and technology can create the impression of a dynamic process characterized by uninterrupted progress, sometimes at daunting speed.
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From page 97... ...
. Scientific Communication and Tacit Knowledge Scientists attempt to convert the knowledge they possess into explicit forms to be shared with others, for example through conference presen tations and the publication of journal articles.
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From page 98... ...
The extent to which tacit knowledge as described in the second bullet might help to prevent the misuse of S&T is briefly discussed in the next section. Tacit Knowledge as a Potential Roadblock to Misuse of Life Sciences Research Several authors have highlighted the roles of tacit knowledge and of social and organizational factors in achieving research success, including the creation of biological weapons (Ben Ouagrham-Gormley and Vogel, 2010; Suk et al., 2011; Vogel, 2006)
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From page 99... ...
If specific social media or other tools have proven particularly effective at conveying tacit knowledge or at integrating multiple streams of knowledge to tackle complex problems in the business or education communities, then monitoring whether these types of tools become commonly used within the scientific
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From page 100... ...
But there are also questions about the level of sophistication that could actually be achieved by prac titioners without the deeper biological or mechanistic understanding that enables experienced researchers to respond to difficulties in the course of an experiment or effort to develop a weapons capability.3 The committee does not have an answer to the implications of the changes in the roadblocks provided by tacit knowledge to the potential misuses of life sciences research. The discussion is intended to highlight an area that could be the subject of future study and consideration as part of broader efforts to monitor S&T trends.
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From page 101... ...
For example, early efforts in synthetic biology drew upon x-ray crystallography; DNA sequencing and recombination techniques; the development of sensitive, small-scale analytical methods; and advances in modeling techniques and computing power. Today, there is a general sense within the life sciences community that many parallel tracks and fields of research are developing simultaneously.
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From page 102... ...
5.1.3 Discussion and Implications Certain scientific and technical roadblocks may impede future progress, but when they are overcome they will enable particularly rapid development to follow. Two examples from 20th-century life sciences are presented in Box 5.1.
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From page 103... ...
103 MONITORING AND ASSESSING TRENDS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BOX 5.1 Overcoming Scientific Roadblocks: PCR and Penicillin The dramatic explosion of research and application that can follow from over coming a scientific roadblock is demonstrated by two well-known examples from 20th-century life sciences. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
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From page 104... ...
In addition to these S&T challenges, the availability of web-based technologies can enable the transfer of tacit knowledge through the creation of formal or informal learning communities or from individual to individual. These technologies are used to reduce the barriers to S&T knowledge for responsible, educational purposes, but they may also potentially be used to provide access to tacit knowledge that acts as a barrier to misuse.
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From page 105... ...
. Subsequent review conferences reaffirmed the comprehen sive coverage provided by Article I: The Second, Third and Fourth Review Conferences, conscious of ap prehensions arising from relevant scientific and technological develop ments, inter alia, in the fields of microbiology, genetic engineering and biotechnology, and the possibilities of their use for purposes inconsistent with the objectives and the provisions of the Convention, reaffirmed that the undertaking given by the States Parties in Article I applies to all such developments.
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From page 106... ...
5.3 ROLE OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY The potential dual use nature of multiple areas of life sciences research, coupled with the rapid progress in the fields described in Chapters 2 through 4, underscore the need for the scientific community to be aware of the legal prohibitions enshrined in the BWC and translated into domestic criminal legislation.4 Scientists also need to be engaged in helping policy makers understand the ways that scientific advances might affect such agreements. The role of the scientific community in providing factual information about S&T developments and in contributing to stakeholder discussions about their potential implications for international security in general and weapons of mass destruction in particular has been recognized for many years.5 As discussed in Chapter 1, international scientific organizations have been contributing to the BWC and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)
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From page 107... ...
II. Each State Party to this Convention If destruction were ever needed, S&T undertakes to destroy, or to divert to advances in areas such as detection peaceful purposes, as soon as possible and surveillance technologies such but not later than nine months after as biosensors could also help States entry into force of the Convention, all Parties monitor the process.
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From page 108... ...
the agents, toxins, weapons, equipment The increased power of and access to S&T and means of delivery specified in could make it easier (subject to all the Article I of the Convention, within roadblocks discussed earlier) for terrorist the territory of such State, under and other non-state groups to develop its jurisdiction or under its control and produce biological weapons, and anywhere.
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From page 109... ...
VII. E ach State Party to this S&T can contribute to the provision of C onvention undertakes to provide or assistance through the sharing of scientific support assistance, in accordance with information and capabilities in areas like the United Nations Charter, to any Party microbial forensics, disease surveillance, to the Convention which so requests, if vaccine development, improved the Security Council decides that such treatments and prophylaxis, as well as Party has been exposed to danger as a other advances that improve biodefense result of violation of the Convention.
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From page 110... ...
individually or together with other The scientific community can also support States or international organizations national and international efforts by to the further development and fostering a culture of awareness, selfapplication of scientific discoveries governance, and responsible conduct and in the field of bacteriology (biology) by engaging in stakeholder discussions to for prevention of disease, or for other achieve security goals while not unduly peaceful purposes.
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From page 111... ...
Efforts to engage the scientific community by emphasizing responsibilities in addition to legal requirements may also benefit from larger discus sions currently taking place in various international settings about science ethics, the social responsibility of science, and specific issues related to research integrity.7 5.3.2 Monitoring and Assessing Scientific Developments The preparations for the Seventh Review Conference have highlighted the potential for adopting a more systematic process to monitoring and assessing developments in S&T (see, for example, China, Canada, and BWC ISU [2010] and Indonesia, Norway, and BWC ISU [2011]
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From page 112... ...
5.3.2.2 Making Use of Flexible Mechanisms to Address S&T The current approach for BWC review conferences is to rely on contributions from States Parties and from experts within the relevant scientific and technical communities in a more ad hoc fashion. This approach is more flexible than appointing a formal advisory board and might more easily draw on the specific experts needed to review individual areas of 8 Further information about the project is available at http://hsp.sussex.ac.uk/ sandtreviews/.
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From page 113... ...
These decisions will impact both the types of activities that are undertaken and the timing of activities in order to most effectively meet the objectives: • Broad Reviews of S&T Trends At present, assessments of S&T relevant to the BWC are under taken every five years as part of the regular review conference process. The workshops held in 2006 and 2010 reflect independent contributions from the scientific community to this process; indi vidual States Parties and the BWC Implementation Support Unit also submit contributions on S&T.
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From page 114... ...
• Focused Assessments of Specific Areas of S&T States Parties may be interested in specific areas of S&T, such as synthetic biology or microbial forensics. Activities that bring together experts in more specific fields could address develop ments, needs, opportunities, and implications in greater detail, or could help inform States Parties based on specific questions.
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From page 115... ...
The report is organized around three trends commonly noted in discussions of S&T: the rapid pace of life sciences developments, the increasing diffusion of research capacity, and the integration of additional disciplines beyond biology in current life sciences research. Pace of S&T Developments As was clear from the workshop presentations and discussions, life sciences research continues to advance rapidly and is expected to do so for the foreseeable future.
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From page 116... ...
• Although first class research continues to rely heavily upon tacit knowledge, the availability of web-based technologies is facilitat ing the transfer of tacit knowledge through the creation of world wide formal or informal learning communities or partnerships. • These technologies reduce the barriers to the spread of S&T knowledge for responsible, educational purposes, thus creating more favorable conditions for international cooperation in the peaceful application of the life sciences.
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From page 117... ...
This has obvious implications for the BWC, for example with regard to the measures States Parties need to take to implement the BWC and to prevent the use of biological or toxin agents for hostile purposes. Finding V: The development of microbial forensics illustrates one way that life sciences research from around the world can support the BWC and create better tools to investigate and discriminate between natural and deliberate disease outbreaks.
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From page 118... ...
The language of the treaty, as rein forced by the common understandings reached in prior review conferences, provides a degree of flexibility that has so far allowed it to adapt to progress in the life sciences and related scientific fields. The com mittee recognizes, however, that as new developments arise, including in fields of research that this report did not assess in depth, there may be surprise discoveries; hence, continued monitoring of advances in the life sciences and evaluation of their relevance for the BWC will be important.
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