Suchergebnisse

Challenges arising from chemical and biological weapons can arise from natural, accidental, and deliberate causes. These challenges need to be met by an integrated strategy that deals with all such diseases and poisoning in humans, animals and plants, and involves experts from different subject areas such as chemistry, biology, life sciences and social sciences. This paper is concerned with the challenges of deliberate disease and poisoning but is linked to the broader concept of the problem in a holistic one health approach. The challenge of deliberate disease or poisoning from chemical and biological agents also has to be integrated at an international level through the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) during this period of rapid and converging advances in science and technology and international instability. Together with the 1925 Geneva Protocol these Conventions form the foundation built up during the last century to prevent the use of chemical, biological and toxin weapons from being used and thereby attempting to minimise the challenge at the source. During this century despite the agreement of some positive measures to strengthen these Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Regimes, there is little doubt that both are facing considerable difficulties at present. However, there is a long and diverse tradition of civil society efforts to help strengthen these regimes and there is some hope that, following the dangers from biological agents exposed in the pandemic, States Parties will be able to find ways to improve the protection afforded by the two Conventions. This paper describes one such civil society project designed to help achieve progress at the 9th Review Conference of the BTWC in 2022 and the 5th Review Conference of the CWC in 2023. The six social and life scientists involved in the project published a detailed report analysing the options available to States Parties at these review conferences and then attempted to raise awareness of these ...

The Implementation of Legally Binding Measures to Strengthen the BTWC -- The Implementation of Legally Binding Measures to Strengthen the BTWC -- The Requirement for Legally Binding Measures -- The Requirement to Strengthen the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention -- A Short History of Biological Warfare and Weapons -- Critical Aspects of Biotechnology in Relation to Proliferation -- Implementation of Legally Binding Measures -- The Key Elements of a Legally Binding Instrument to Strengthen the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention -- The Chemical Weapons Convention Regime and its Evolution -- The Experience of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons -- The Experience of a CWC National Authority -- Provisions for Declarations and for Declaration Follow-up Procedures -- Implications for Government of Provisions for Declarations and for Declaration Follow-up Procedures in a Legally Binding Instrument -- Implications for Biological Defence of Legally Binding Declarations and Declaration Follow-up Procedures -- Implications for Industrial Facilities of Declarations and Declaration Follow-up Procedures -- Declaration Clarification Procedures — Randomly Selected Visits: UK Experience from Practice Visits -- Provisions for Field and Facility Investigations -- Investigation of Outbreaks of Disease -- Implications for Governments of Field and Facility Investigations -- Implications for Industry of Field and Facility Investigations -- Provisions for International Cooperation and Assistance -- Provisions for International Cooperation and Assistance -- Implications for Governments of International Cooperation and Assistance Provisions -- Implications for Research and Development of International Cooperation and Assistance Provisions -- Implications for Production Facilities of International Cooperation and Assistance Provisions -- Provisions for Incentives and Safeguards -- An Industry Organization Perspective on Incentives and Safeguards -- An Industry Perspective: Issues & Concerns -- Global Outreach and Education -- The Strengthening of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

Aken, J. v.: Die Gentechnik und das Militär. - S. 1-3. Geißler, E.: Zur Geschichte der biologischen Waffen bis 1945. - S. 4-10. Nixdorff, K.: Die gestiegene Bedrohung: Offensivprogramme und Gentechnik. - S. 11-16. Dando, M.; Withby, S.; Millet, P.: Der mögliche Missbrauch der Genetik für biologische Waffen. - S. 17-28. Gebauer, T.: Rüstungsbeschränkungen - eine Sache der Öffentlichkeit. - S. 29-34. Hunger, I.: Verhandlungen zur Stärkung der Biowaffen-Konvention. - S. 35-46. Aken, J. v.: Die 5. Überprüfungskonferenz der Biowaffen-Konvention. - S. 47-52

Especially since the anthrax attacks of 2001, the issue of bioterrorism has been controversial: Are governments underestimating the potential hazard of biological toxins, as some claim, or is the danger in fact exaggerated? What are the policy options for dealing with such a complex threat? The authors of this book offer a reasoned assessment of the issues at the core of the debates. Identifying a high level of uncertainty as a key characteristic of the bioterrorism threat, the authors examine the legacies of the secret state biowarfare programs of the previous century, analyze academic and political controversies about current dangers, and consider the impact of rapid scientific and technological change on the development of future threats. In the process, they provide new insight into the broader question of risk management and the role of public and private actors in international security relations

Horizon scanning is intended to identify the opportunities and threats associated with technological, regulatory and social change. In 2017 some of the present authors conducted a horizon scan for bioengineering (Wintle et al., 2017). Here we report the results of a new horizon scan that is based on inputs from a larger and more international group of 38 participants. The final list of 20 issues includes topics spanning from the political (the regulation of genomic data, increased philanthropic funding and malicious uses of neurochemicals) to the environmental (crops for changing climates and agricultural gene drives). The early identification of such issues is relevant to researchers, policy-makers and the wider public.

Multiple national and international trends and drivers are radically changing what biological security means for the United Kingdom (UK). New technologies present novel opportunities and challenges, and globalisation has created new pathways and increased the speed, volume and routes by which organisms can spread. The UK Biological Security Strategy (2018) acknowledges the importance of research on biological security in the UK. Given the breadth of potential research, a targeted agenda identifying the questions most critical to effective and coordinated progress in different disciplines of biological security is required. We used expert elicitation to generate 80 policy-relevant research questions considered by participants to have the greatest impact on UK biological security. Drawing on a collaboratively-developed set of 450 questions, proposed by 41 experts from academia, industry and the UK government (consulting 168 additional experts) we subdivided the final 80 questions into six categories: bioengineering; communication and behaviour; disease threats (including pandemics); governance and policy; invasive alien species; and securing biological materials and securing against misuse. Initially, the questions were ranked through a voting process and then reduced and refined to 80 during a one-day workshop with 35 participants from a variety of disciplines. Consistently emerging themes included: the nature of current and potential biological security threats, the efficacy of existing management actions, and the most appropriate future options. The resulting questions offer a research agenda for biological security in the UK that can assist the targeting of research resources and inform the implementation of the UK Biological Security Strategy. These questions include research that could aid with the mitigation of Covid-19, and preparation for the next pandemic. We hope that our structured and rigorous approach to creating a biological security research agenda will be replicated in other countries and regions. The world, not just the UK, is in need of a thoughtful approach to directing biological security research to tackle the emerging issues.

Multiple national and international trends and drivers are radically changing what biological security means for the United Kingdom (UK). New technologies present novel opportunities and challenges, and globalisation has created new pathways and increased the speed, volume and routes by which organisms can spread. The UK Biological Security Strategy (2018) acknowledges the importance of research on biological security in the UK. Given the breadth of potential research, a targeted agenda identifying the questions most critical to effective and coordinated progress in different disciplines of biological security is required. We used expert elicitation to generate 80 policy-relevant research questions considered by participants to have the greatest impact on UK biological security. Drawing on a collaboratively-developed set of 450 questions, proposed by 41 experts from academia, industry and the UK government (consulting 168 additional experts) we subdivided the final 80 questions into six categories: bioengineering; communication and behaviour; disease threats (including pandemics); governance and policy; invasive alien species; and securing biological materials and securing against misuse. Initially, the questions were ranked through a voting process and then reduced and refined to 80 during a one-day workshop with 35 participants from a variety of disciplines. Consistently emerging themes included: the nature of current and potential biological security threats, the efficacy of existing management actions, and the most appropriate future options. The resulting questions offer a research agenda for biological security in the UK that can assist the targeting of research resources and inform the implementation of the UK Biological Security Strategy. These questions include research that could aid with the mitigation of Covid-19, and preparation for the next pandemic. We hope that our structured and rigorous approach to creating a biological security research agenda will be replicated in other countries and regions. The world, not just the UK, is in need of a thoughtful approach to directing biological security research to tackle the emerging issues. ; The David and Claudia Harding Foundation for provided funding for the BioRISC project. Arcadia provided support in the form of salaries for authors WS. and CR. TM and HS are affiliated with Opencell. KM is affiliated with Biosecure Ltd. The funders did not have any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the 'author contributions' section."

Multiple national and international trends and drivers are radically changing what biological security means for the United Kingdom (UK). New technologies present novel opportunities and challenges, and globalisation has created new pathways and increased the speed, volume and routes by which organisms can spread. The UK Biological Security Strategy (2018) acknowledges the importance of research on biological security in the UK. Given the breadth of potential research, a targeted agenda identifying the questions most critical to effective and coordinated progress in different disciplines of biological security is required. We used expert elicitation to generate 80 policy-relevant research questions considered by participants to have the greatest impact on UK biological security. Drawing on a collaboratively-developed set of 450 questions, proposed by 41 experts from academia, industry and the UK government (consulting 168 additional experts) we subdivided the final 80 questions into six categories: bioengineering; communication and behaviour; disease threats (including pandemics); governance and policy; invasive alien species; and securing biological materials and securing against misuse. Initially, the questions were ranked through a voting process and then reduced and refined to 80 during a one-day workshop with 35 participants from a variety of disciplines. Consistently emerging themes included: the nature of current and potential biological security threats, the efficacy of existing management actions, and the most appropriate future options. The resulting questions offer a research agenda for biological security in the UK that can assist the targeting of research resources and inform the implementation of the UK Biological Security Strategy. These questions include research that could aid with the mitigation of Covid-19, and preparation for the next pandemic. We hope that our structured and rigorous approach to creating a biological security research agenda will be replicated in other countries and regions. The world, not just the UK, is in need of a thoughtful approach to directing biological security research to tackle the emerging issues.

Multiple national and international trends and drivers are radically changing what biological security means for the United Kingdom (UK). New technologies present novel opportunities and challenges, and globalisation has created new pathways and increased the speed, volume and routes by which organisms can spread. The UK Biological Security Strategy (2018) acknowledges the importance of research on biological security in the UK. Given the breadth of potential research, a targeted agenda identifying the questions most critical to effective and coordinated progress in different disciplines of biological security is required. We used expert elicitation to generate 80 policy-relevant research questions considered by participants to have the greatest impact on UK biological security. Drawing on a collaboratively-developed set of 450 questions, proposed by 41 experts from academia, industry and the UK government (consulting 168 additional experts) we subdivided the final 80 questions into six categories: bioengineering; communication and behaviour; disease threats (including pandemics); governance and policy; invasive alien species; and securing biological materials and securing against misuse. Initially, the questions were ranked through a voting process and then reduced and refined to 80 during a one-day workshop with 35 participants from a variety of disciplines. Consistently emerging themes included: the nature of current and potential biological security threats, the efficacy of existing management actions, and the most appropriate future options. The resulting questions offer a research agenda for biological security in the UK that can assist the targeting of research resources and inform the implementation of the UK Biological Security Strategy. These questions include research that could aid with the mitigation of Covid-19, and preparation for the next pandemic. We hope that our structured and rigorous approach to creating a biological security research agenda will be replicated in other countries and regions. The world, not just the UK, is in need of a thoughtful approach to directing biological security research to tackle the emerging issues.