National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×

COUNTERING BIOTERRORISM

THE ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Panel on Biological Issues

Committee on Science and Technology for Countering Terrorism

INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
500 FIFTH STREET, N.W. Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

Support for this project was provided by institutional funds.

International Standard Book Number 0-309-08607-8

Additional copies of this report are available from the
National Academies Press,
500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055; call (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet, http://www.nap.edu.

Copyright 2002 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×

PANEL ON BIOLOGICAL ISSUES

BARRY R. BLOOM, Co-chair,

Harvard School of Public Health

JOSHUA LEDERBERG, Co-chair,

Sackler Foundation at the Rockefeller University

RONALD ATLAS,

University of Louisville

RUTH BERKELMAN,

Emory University

GAIL CASSELL,

Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company

THOMAS R. CECH,

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

DAVID FRANZ,

Southern Research Institute

CLAIRE FRASER,

Institute for Genomic Research

DAVID GALAS,

Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences

CDR SHAUN JONES,

U.S. Navy

ROBERT A. LAMB,

Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Northwestern University

SIMON LEVIN,

Princeton University

JOHN MEKALANOS,

Harvard Medical School

TOM MONATH,

Acambis, Inc.

RANDALL MURCH,

Federal Bureau of Investigation

EDWARD D. PENHOET,

University of California, Berkeley

DAVID RELMAN,

Stanford University

PETER ROSEN,

University of California, San Diego

LUIS SEQUEIRA,

University of Wisconsin

JEFFERY TAUBENBERGER,

Armed Forces Institute of Pathology

DEAN WILKENING,

Stanford University

CATHERINE WOTEKI,

Iowa State University

Liaisons from the Parent Committee to the Panel

MARGARET A. HAMBURG,

Nuclear Threat Initiative

P. ROY VAGELOS,

Merck & Co., Inc. (retired)

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×

Staff

ANDREW M. POPE, Director,

Board on Health Sciences Policy

CATHY T. LIVERMAN, Senior Program Officer,

Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

JENNIFER KUZMA, Senior Program Officer,

Board on Life Sciences

ALDEN B. CHANG, Administrative Assistant,

Board on Health Sciences Policy

JUDY ESTEP, Senior Program Assistant,

Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Consultant

KATHI E. HANNA, Writer

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR COUNTERING TERRORISM

LEWIS M. BRANSCOMB,

Harvard University,

Co-chair

RICHARD D. KLAUSNER,

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,

Co-chair

JOHN D. BALDESCHWIELER,

California Institute of Technology

BARRY R. BLOOM,

Harvard School of Public Health

L. PAUL BREMER III,

Marsh Crisis Consulting

WILLIAM F. BRINKMAN,

Lucent Technologies (retired)

ASHTON B. CARTER,

Harvard University

CHARLES B. CURTIS,

Nuclear Threat Initiative

MORTIMER L. DOWNEY III,

PB-Consult

RICHARD L. GARWIN,

Council on Foreign Relations

PAUL H. GILBERT,

Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc.

M.R.C. GREENWOOD,

University of California, Santa Cruz

MARGARET A. HAMBURG,

Nuclear Threat Initiative

WILLIAM HAPPER,

Princeton University

JOHN L. HENNESSY,

Stanford University

JOSHUA LEDERBERG,

Sackler Foundation at the Rockefeller University

THOMAS C. SCHELLING,

University of Maryland

MAXINE F. SINGER,

Carnegie Institution of Washington

NEIL J. SMELSER,

University of California, Berkeley (retired)

PHILIP M SMITH,

McGeary & Smith

P. ROY VAGELOS,

Merck & Co., Inc. (retired)

VINCENT VITTO,

Charles S. Draper Laboratory, Inc.

GEORGE M. WHITESIDES,

Harvard University

R. JAMES WOOLSEY,

Shea & Gardner

Staff

RONALD D. TAYLOR, Study Director

ELIZABETH L. GROSSMAN, Program Officer

MARY G. GORDON, Information Officer

SUSAN G. CAMPBELL, Administrative Assistant

IAN M. CAMERON, Project Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×

Preface

The September 11, 2001, attacks galvanized the nation to strengthen its counterterrorism defenses. Immediately following the attacks, the presidents of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine wrote to President Bush offering the advice of the National Academies on how best to harness the country’s science and technology capacity to meet critical security and antiterrorism needs.

In December 2001, the National Academies appointed a committee of 24 of the country’s leading scientific, engineering, medical, and public policy experts to offer counsel on an integrated science and technology plan for combating terrorism. To supplement the knowledge of its members, the committee convened eight panels with expertise in specific topic areas, from the chemical and biological disciplines to the domains of energy, information technology, and transportation. Barry Bloom and Joshua Lederberg, both members of the main committee, co-chaired the Panel on Biological Issues, which comprised 22 experts in medicine, public health, microbiology, cellular biology, virology, drug and vaccine development, health policy, laboratory analysis, plant pathology, zoonotic disease, food-borne disease, molecular biology, genomics, emergency medical response systems, infectious disease, bioterrorism, bioforensics, statistics, and epidemiological modeling.

The main committee’s report, Making the Nation Safer: The Role of Science and Technology in Countering Terrorism, was released on June 25, 2002. The committee recommends a strategy whereby the nation’s scientific and engineering capacity can be strengthened and brought to bear in the fight against terrorism. Making the Nation Safer synthesizes the contributions of the eight expert

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×

panels into chapters, each containing specific research and policy recommendations. The contribution of the Panel on Biological Issues (Chapter 3 of Making the Nation Safer) is reprinted in this report to provide a focused report on the scientific and technological measures needed to counter bioterrorism. The executive summary of the main committee’s report is reprinted in Appendix A of this report.

The Panel on Biological Issues met three times over a 5-month period with extensive interactions by email and conference calls. The panel wishes to thank the following individuals who provided briefings to the panel: William Winkenwerder, Department of Defense; Kevin Tonat, Department of Health and Human Services; D.A. Henderson, Department of Health and Human Services; Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Kathryn Zoon, Food and Drug Administration; David Lipman, National Center for Biotechnology Information; Chuck Ludlum, Office of Senator Joseph Lieberman; and William Dallas Jones, California Office of Emergency Services.

The panel’s contribution was reviewed as part of the main committee’s report by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.

The full listing of the reviewers of the main committee’s report is provided in that report. Several of those reviewers were selected because of their expertise relevant to the biological sciences and bioterrorism. Special appreciation is expressed to the following reviewers: Steven M. Block, Stanford University; Floyd E. Bloom, The Scripps Research Institute; Stanley Falkow, Stanford University; Thomas J. Kelly, Sloan-Kettering Institute; Harley W. Moon, Iowa State University; Lucy Shapiro, Stanford University; Harold E. Varmus, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Although these individuals provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse findings and conclusions, nor did they see the final document before its release.

The review was overseen by R. Stephen Berry, James Franck Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago, and Gerald P. Dinneen, Retired Vice President of Science and Technology, Honeywell Inc. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of the report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for content rests entirely with the authors and the institution.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×

Andrew Pope, Jennifer Kuzma, and Cathy Liverman managed the panel’s work. Kathi Hanna, a consultant to the committee, summarized the panel’s deliberations into a draft of the report. Judy Estep worked on the details of this publication. Special thanks go to Alden Chang for his work in support of the main report.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
This page in the original is blank.
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R1
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R5
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R6
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R7
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R8
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R10
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R11
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2002. Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10536.
×
Page R12
Next: Executive Summary »
Countering Bioterrorism: The Role of Science and Technology Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $39.00 Buy Ebook | $31.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

The attacks of September 11 and the release of anthrax spores revealed enormous vulnerabilities in the U.S. public-health infrastructure and suggested similar vulnerabilities in the agricultural infrastructure as well. The traditional public health response—surveillance (intelligence), prevention, detection, response, recovery, and attribution—is the paradigm for the national response not only to all forms of terrorism but also to emerging infectious diseases. Thus, investments in research on bioterrorism will have enormous potential for application in the detection, prevention, and treatment of emerging infectious diseases that also are unpredictable and against which we must be prepared. The deciphering of the human genome sequence and the complete elucidation of numerous pathogen genomes, our rapidly increasing understanding of the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis and of immune responses, and new strategies for designing drugs and vaccines all offer unprecedented opportunities to use science to counter bioterrorist threats. But these same developments also allow science to be misused to create new agents of mass destruction. Hence the effort to confront bioterrorism must be a global one. Countering Bioterrorism makes the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1: All agencies with responsibility for homeland security should work together to establish stronger and more meaningful working ties between the intelligence, S&T, and public health communities.

Recommendation 2: Federal agencies should work cooperatively and in collaboration with industry to develop and evaluate rapid, sensitive, and specific early-detection technologies.

Recommendation 3: Create a global network for detection and surveillance, making use of computerized methods for real-time reporting and analysis to rapidly detect new patterns of disease locally, nationally, and ultimately— internationally. The use of high-throughput methodologies that are being increasingly utilized in modern biological research should be an important component of this expanded and highly automated surveillance strategy.

Recommendation 4: Use knowledge of complex biological patterns and high-throughput laboratory automation to classify and diagnose infections in patients in primary care settings.

Recommendation 5: USDA should create an agency for control and prevention of plant disease. This agency should have the capabilities necessary to deal effectively with biothreats.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!