Scientists Warn Congress Not to Overregulate High-Security Labs

A group of university and private-sector scientists convened by the National Research Council has issued a report warning of potential problems that could arise if Congress were to overregulate laboratories that deal with deadly pathogens, according to the Associated Press.

The report states that if Congress increased the security standards—by, for example, requiring credit-history checks for all new hires—it could deter young scientists from entering the field and hamper the study of biological threats.

Critics have called for such increased security in the wake of the anthrax attacks of 2001, which are thought to have come from a researcher, now dead, who was employed at a U.S. Army lab that studies deadly microbes. The report says that there is no “silver bullet” to screen out potential terrorists, and that the goal should instead be to build a culture of trust among scientists.

The National Research Council report comes just weeks after the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report coming to the opposite conclusion and calling for more oversight of the very same labs.

The GAO said the rapid expansion of high-security labs since the 2001 anthrax attacks had not been accompanied by sufficient safety precautions.