Biolab Oversight Crucial, Feasible
By Sujatha Byravan,
The Boston Globe
August 27, 2006

OPPONENTS OF health and safety regulations for high-containment biological research labs raise specious claims that require a response ("City cuts back on plan to regulate biolabs," Page A1, Aug. 23).

The Boston Public Health Commission's draft regulations certainly do not call for "road maps of where certain things are," as a Harvard University government affairs official fears. Submitted comments from our organization and the health commission's regulations themselves recognize the need for confidentiality for security purposes.

Biotech industry is thriving in Cambridge, in spite of its being the first city to require regulation of recombinant DNA research, and this attests to the fact that transparency and public oversight in biotech research do not dampen commerce or research. It is therefore
misleading for Thomas Finneran, president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, to suggest that the rules are a "worrisome development" that could discourage businesses from opening or expanding in Boston.

Further, the biotech industry and Harvard University need to reach agreement on having community members on their internal biosafety committees. Such participation, which follows federal guidelines, is critical to prevent conflict of interest and to promote transparency in the committees' operations.

I hope that the health commission will take the high road and provide access to those who perhaps have less clout than powerful businesses and large universities. After all, the commission's stated mission is "to protect, promote, and preserve the health and well-being of all Boston residents, particularly the most vulnerable."

SUJATHA BYRAVAN
President Council for Responsible Genetics
Cambridge