September 30, 2003

CRG Dismayed by Federal Decision to Fund B.U.'s $1.6 Billion Bioterrorism Lab Proposal

BOSTON, MA--The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced today its decision to fund an application by the Boston University Medical Center (BUMC) to construct a high-security bioterrorism research laboratory in the neighborhood bordering the South End and Roxbury. Over the course of the next two decades, the grant will provide as much as $1.6 billion for construction and research.

The Council for Responsible Genetics has called on BUMC to make its biodefense research and development plans transparent to the surrounding community. To the dismay of local residents, university officials have repeatedly refused requests for a redacted version of the BUMC construction proposal.

NIAID’s decision permits the building of a biosafety level 4 laboratory designed for research on organisms that cause diseases for which there is no known cure. These include hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola, exotic encephalitis, simian Herpes virus, and other rare disease that are not likely to occur in the Unites States. The United States currently has four level 4 laboratories that can study such organisms. Reports of transit accidents, missing vials of dangerous organisms, failed power and sealing of facilities with duct tape, and explosion of a West Nile package at a Federal Express facility are only some of the breaches associated with high-security labs of which the public has been notified. Locating a biodefense lab that will work on the most dangerous organisms in a densely populated neighborhood may invite more accidents in transit, infection of workers, and accidental and deliberate release. In addition, it makes such a facility a target for terrorist attacks and can place these organisms in the hands of home grown terrorists.

The claim that the research will focus on the development of vaccines and other defensive measures should be viewed with skepticism. Many experts agree that in the area of biological warfare, there is little difference between defensive and offensive measures. Following September 11, the Bush administration has been fanning the fears of the American public and it is in this climate of fear mongering that the Administration has increased the total public spending on defense. The $1.6 billion that BUMC will receive over two decades is only the tip of the iceberg. In fiscal 2003 alone, federal spending on biodefense has amounted to $5.9 billion, half of which is directed toward research and development.

The BUMC project promises jobs to the local people, but high security requirements at the facility will likely call for specific experience and technical skills that most in the surrounding community do not possess. Our taxpayer money would be better spent on genuine efforts to improve the health and security of all Americans. As the New York Times noted today, the number of people without health insurance increased by 2.4 million last year, the largest increase in a decade, bringing the total to 43.6 million—a number that will increase as more people lose their jobs in this economy.

The funding of this defense facility and its location in the city of Boston by the federal government epitomizes everything that the country does not need. There has been fierce opposition to this proposal from environmental justice groups, surrounding communities, and concerned citizens. These groups will now have to decide how to respond to this new threat to our community.

For more information, contact Dr. Sujatha Byravan, Executive Director of the Council for Responsible Genetics (CRG) at 617-868-0870.