WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - An expert panel concluded on Thursday that the US government and researchers should not restrict public access to genome sequence data over fears that terrorists could use the information to engineer new biological weapons, and said that protecting the data would hamper disease research.
The National Research Council panel recommended that scientists regularly review advances in DNA sequencing to make sure that they pose no advantage to would-be terrorists. But their report also concludes that most genomics data are not likely to be of use to potential attackers and should therefore remain open.
“Unfettered, free access to the results of life-sciences research is the historic norm and has served science and society remarkably well,” the report states. “Rapid unrestricted public access to primary genome sequence data, genome databases, and Internet-based tools for genome analysis should be encouraged.”
Panel member Dr. Paul Keim, told Reuters Health that the committee was unanimous in its call to keep genome data unrestricted. “You could dream up scenarios where releasing information could help a terrorist. But those scenarios instantly became extremely far-fetched,” said Dr. Keim, Director of Translational Genomics at Translational Genomics, a non-profit research institute in Phoenix, Arizona.
Dr. Keim added that there were forms of research on dangerous pathogens that should not be made public, but that that kind of science is classified. “There are already ways of protecting sensitive information,” he said.
The report was issued in response to a request by several US government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
The rise of terror fears in the US has prompted closer scrutiny of legitimate science and products that could be of use to terrorists. The shift has forced scientists in areas as far ranging as fertilizer research to molecular genetics to begin to consider how the consequences if their work fell into the wrong hands.
The DNA sequences of over 150 microbes have been fully sequenced, according to the National Institute of Human Genomic Research. Most of those sequences remain open to the public on the Internet in scientific journals.
Researchers often use the sequences as a starting point for finding disease-causing proteins or locating places in the genome where mutations could cause disease.
Security experts have worried that sequence data on potentially dangerous pathogens, such as anthrax or smallpox, could aid terrorists in producing more potent or vaccine-resistant strains.
“We face a dilemma that there will be a future time...when in the wrong hands biotechnology making use of genome information could create a novel pathogen with unique properties,” panel chair Stanley Falkow, a researcher at Stanford University, wrote in the report’s introduction.
But experts concluded genetic sequence data are of little use to all but the most sophisticated of scientists and that restricting access to data -- most of it now in electronic form -- would be expensive and impractical.
“Mere possession of the sequence of a pathogen does not confer the ability to enhance the virulence of the organism to which it pertains nor would it help solve the demanding technical problems associated with conducting a terrorist attack,” their report states.
Edward Hammond, director of the non-profit Sunshine Project, said that the panel was right to conclude that open scientific exchange was important for finding cures to natural diseases. Would-be terrorists can make less use of scientific findings when the data are widely known and understood, he added.
“The public will be safer in the long run if you have these labs operating in a manner that is as open as possible,” said Hammond, whose group advocates for openness in biodefense research.
The report also recommended that professional societies educate scientists about potential nefarious uses of their research and that scientific and security experts meet regularly to expose potential risks involved in genome research.
MeSH Headings:Behavioral Sciences: Biological Warfare: Computer Communication Networks: Computer Systems: Behavioral Disciplines and Activities: Health Care Economics and Organizations: Information Science: Information Systems: Medical Informatics: Medical Informatics Applications: Medical Informatics Computing: Social Control Policies: Public Policy: Social Control, Formal: Social Problems: Social Sciences: Sociology: War: Genomic Library: Gene Library: Databases: Internet: Anthropology, Education, Sociology and Social Phenomena: Health Care: Information Science: Psychiatry and PsychologyCopyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
