BREAKING NEWS

May 2006
Boston BioLab Update
By Sujatha Byravan
GeneWatch

February 10, 2006
BU's Biolab and the Law
By Daniel Goodenough and David Ozonoff
Boson Globe, Op-Ed

February 8, 2006
There’s Precedent for Stopping Biodefense Lab
By Felix Arroyo
Boson Herald, Op-Ed

February 3, 2006
Biosafety Lab in South End gets Final OK
By Stephen Smith
Boson Globe

Please visit CRG's program page regarding the construction of the Level 4 Biolab facility in Boston's South End.

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE
CRG's Boston University Biodefense Site
CRG's Campaign for the Peaceful Development of the Biological Sciences

Genetic engineering has the potential to revolutionize biological warfare. Through techniques of genetic analysis and modification, steadily increasing in sophistication since the creation of the Human Genome Project, scientists now have the ability to modify deadly disease-causing agents to enhance their resilience and ease of infection, by selecting genes that hasten the onset of particular symptoms when put in contact with the body or possess a resistance to common treatments.

CRG works for an end to the development and use of biological weapons, as well to so-called biological “defense” research with clear offensive applications. To advance this effort, CRG continues to put pressure on the United States to ratify the verification and enforcement protocols of the BTWC and extend the Convention to cover all genetic modification of biological agents for military purposes.

Background Materials

BU and Boston Officials Delayed Disclosing Biolab Infections

Residents Sue Over BU's Proposed Bioterror Lab

Plan to Engineer Smallpox Virus Causes Alarm

Mistakes Happen: Accidents and Security Breaches at High-Security Biocontainment Facilities

CRG's Statement On U.S. Bioweapons Initiatives

Iraq's Bioweapons Not a Reason For War

Call for a Ban on Genetic Alteration of Pathogens for Destructive Purposes

Articles

Bioshield, Biosword, by Victor Sidel, GeneWatch, September 2004

A Biolab in Boston?, by Sujatha Byravan, GeneWatch, September 2004

Rocky Mountain Fever, by Mary Wulff, GeneWatch, September 2004

The Crack in Bioshield's Armor, by Peter Shorett, GeneWatch, September 2004

New Germ Labs Stir a Debate Over Secrecy and Safety, New York Times 1 February 2004

Fools Rush In by Lola Vollen, GeneWatch, March 2003

Rethinking the Biological Warfare Problem by Susan Wright, GeneWatch, March 2003

Boston Residents Should Decide Future of Biolab by Sujatha Byravan and Sheldon Krimsky, GeneWatch, January 2003

Biowar and Peace by Lauren Davis, GeneWatch, September 2002

A Tale of Two Treaties by David Keppel, GeneWatch, March 2002

Double Language and Biological Warfare by Susan Wright, GeneWatch, March 2002

Biowarfare and the Department of Energy by Tim King, GeneWatch, November 2001

Resources

The Sunshine Project / www.sunshine-project.org

The Henry L. Stimson Center / www.stimson.org

Federation of American Scientists Chemical and Biological Arms Control Program / www.fas.org/bwc

Center for Nonproliferation Studies / www.cns.miis.edu

The Harvard Sussex Program on CBW Armament and Arms Limitation / www.fas.harvard.edu/~hsp/

Chemical and Biological Defense Information Analysis Center (CBIAC) / www.cbiac.apgea.army.mil

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) / www.projects.sipri.se/cbw/

Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute (CBACI)

Citizen's Center for Biohazard Prevention / http://homepage2.nifty.com/bio-anzenken/index-e.htm