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Looking Ahead

Dangerous Liaisons: Dual Use Research in the 21 st Century. Looking Ahead. BIOSECURITY. Edward H. You Supervisory Special Agent FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. February 25, 2011. What is. DUAL USE RESEARCH OF CONCERN. ?. NSABB Definition.

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Looking Ahead

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  1. Dangerous Liaisons: Dual Use Research in the 21st Century Looking Ahead BIOSECURITY Edward H. You Supervisory Special Agent FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate February 25, 2011

  2. What is DUAL USE RESEARCH OF CONCERN ?

  3. NSABB Definition Research that, based on current understanding, can be reasonably anticipated to provide knowledge, products, or technologies that could be directly misapplied by others to pose a threat to public health and safety, agriculture, plants, animals, the environment, or materiel

  4. Which projects were part of a weapons program? • Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries: Investigation on Bovine Contagious Abortion at the Veterinary Laboratory • Survival of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease virus: Virus in damp hay and bran • Effects of insecticides and herbicides on animals • Virulence of non-sporulated bacteria via the respiratory tract

  5. Sir Alexander Fleming "When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer."

  6. Platinum Electrodes Dr. Barnett Rosenberg • Cancer Treatment • Chemotherapy

  7. Problem: Australian Mouse Plague

  8. Dual Use Challenge

  9. SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY Carlson, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science Volume 1 Number 3, August 2003

  10. SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY ? • New pathogens • New virulence factors Growth of the publicly available gene-sequence database from its inception through 2008 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/genbankstats.htm

  11. SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome

  12. DNA Synthesis ExxonMobil Bets $600 Million on Algae Scientific American, July 14, 2009 Microbially Derived Artemisinin: A Biotechnology Solution to the Global Problem of Access to Affordable Antimalarial Drugs American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

  13. Revealed: the lax laws that could allow assembly of deadly virus DNA Urgent calls for regulation after Guardian buys part of smallpox genome through mail order James Randerson, science correspondent Wednesday 14 June 2006 A vial containing an incomplete sequence of smallpox DNA, obtained by the Guardian over the internet

  14. SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY • Reconstruction of the influenza A (H1N1) orthomyxovirus responsible for the 1918 "Spanish flu" pandemic • RNA genetic code comprised of approximately 13,500 nucleotides $5,265.00 Mr. Gene - Unbelievable prices in June and July! Starting at $ 0.39 bp! Simplify you life with gene synthesis! Order your gene online and concentrate on research - not on cloning! Submit your sequence

  15. The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues “…It is vital that we as a society consider, in a thoughtful manner, the significance of this kind of scientific development [synthetic biology]. With the Commission’s collective expertise in the areas of science, policy, and ethical and religious values, I am confident that it will carry out this responsibility with the care and attention it deserves.”

  16. Looking Ahead BIOSECURITY FBI Outreach

  17. FBI Synthetic Biology Tripwire Initiative • Partnership with the U.S. synthetic biology industry to report suspicious requests for genetic sequences • Reporting mechanism in place between participating industry leaders and FBI field office WMD Coordinators • Shared best practices with Germany and Canada during bilateral meetings (2009) Industry very happy that problem of “who to call” was resolved

  18. FBI Synthetic Biology Conference “Building Bridges Around Building Genomes” August 4 - 5, 2009 San Francisco, California

  19. Federal Guidance to Synthetic DNA Providers • Customer Screening • Sequence Screening • Government Notification • FBI WMD Coordinator

  20. 2,000 Attendees 26 Countries 127 Universities FBI Biosecurity Workshop (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, UN BWC) FBI Outreach Booth

  21. iGEM Winners 2010 Winner: Slovenia DNA Guided Assembly 2009 Winner: Cambridge E. chromi 2008 Winner: Slovenia Designer Vaccine Against Heliobacter pylori

  22. iGEM Winners iGEM team helps prevent rogue use of synthetic biology Bronze Medal, Safety Commendation

  23. FBI-MSMR Biosecurity Conference The 3 I's: Learning through Collaboration, Connection and Community … Advancing Bioscience and Security May 3-4, 2010 • First biosecurity conference organized by FBI WMD Directorate in partnership with the Massachusetts Society for Medical Research (MSMR) attended by: • Institutional Biosafety Committee Members • Institutional Review Board Members • Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Members • Focused on how the research and security communities can work together in addressing biosafety and biosecurity

  24. The Role of the FBI Scientific Community THREAT FBI Meeting the Dual Use Challenge: • Outreach • Partnership • Education/Effective Policy Making

  25. Biosecurity Legislation

  26. Legislation & Regulation • Increased restrictions • Oversight National Security Risk? • Potentially ill-informed • Possible negative impact on research activities

  27. Innovation Engine: Creating Low-Cost Kits & Devices Open GelBox 2.0 Microbial Fuel Cell Dremelfuge LavaAmp

  28. THANK YOU Edward H. You Supervisory Special Agent Biological Countermeasures Unit FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate

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