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Ana Sanchez, a graduate student in microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics, mixes food f

In a move to increase national security without impeding scientific growth, a panel of scientists put together a report urging another tier of prior review for proposed experiments that could be used by terrorists or hostile nations to make biological weapons.

Led by Dr. Gerald Fink of the Whitehead Institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the National Academy of Sciences panel recommends the creation of an advisory board made up of scientists and national security experts.

The board will review certain experiments deemed risky before and after they are carried out at any research institution.

Currently, researchers at universities working with recombinant DNA or infectious agents must submit their proposals to an Institutional Biosafety Committee.

At UCLA, the committee, which is made up of university scientists, allows researchers to conduct their experiments if they meet guidelines established by the National Institute of Health’s Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee.

The panel’s recommended advisory board could exercise more knowledge about national security issues when examining potentially problematic experiments.

“This urges scientists both in the United States and elsewhere to think about (how) the science they’re doing could promote the efforts of bioterrorists,” said Matthew Scharff, a panel member and professor of cell biology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY.

The issue of bioterrorism is important, Scharff said.

“I was able to see from the window of my office the burning Trade Center, and I read the newspapers about someone mailing anthrax,” Scharff said.

“That changed the world for me,” he added.

Scharff said it took several meetings and discussions among panel members and peers before the report was finalized.

Another issue the panel focused on was experiment publication.

The scientific committee, not government agencies, should determine whether the experiments are published, stressed the panel’s report.

Currently, the government places restriction on public access to “sensitive but unclassified” information.

Such vague language causes confusion among scientists and government officials, according to the panel.

UCLA research is either “classified” or “unclassified.” The university does not allow publication restrictions by the government on unclassified information.

“Nobody does classified research at UCLA, on the campus. So, therefore, as a result, if we don’t do classified research, we should be able to publish it,” said Vice Chancellor of Research Roberto Peccei.

“This whole issue of ‘sensitive, but unclassified’ is something that is an evolving debate between universities and the federal government,” Peccei said.

The report specifically targets seven types of experiments that may result in the “misuse of biotechnology.”

Researchers at UCLA agree that biological weapons are a real threat.

“Admittedly there is information out there that, for somebody with the right abilities, could potentially be used for devious purposes,” said Dr. Kenneth Bradley, assistant professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics.

Bradley’s lab is currently studying the effects of anthrax toxins on mammalian cells, with hopes of developing molecular inhibitors to block anthrax toxins from binding to its receptor.

Bradley believes it is important for the scientific community to show that they are responsible enough to understand the threats of bioterrorism and issues of national security.

“We don’t want to wait to be asked to take initiative,” Bradley said.

Bradley has read a summary of the proposals and said the recommendations are reasonable.

“I cannot imagine it is going to be a problem for people who have taken the responsibility to act responsibly when designing experiments,” Bradley said.

“We do an assessment of the risks to the individual, lab and exposure to the environment,” said assistant biosafety officer Rowelle Cruz.