Publication

The Controlling Dangerous Pathogens Project outlines a prototype oversight system for ongoing microbiological research to control its possible misapplication. This so-called Biological Research Security System (BRSS) foresees the creation of regional, national, and international oversight bodies that review, approve, or reject those proposed microbiological research projects that would fit three BRSS-defined categories: Potentially Dangerous Activities, Moderately Dangerous Activities, and Extremely Dangerous Activities. This paper assesses these categories qualitatively and quantitatively, by screening published US research of the years 2000-present (early- to mid-2005) for science reports that would have fallen under the proposed oversight system had it existed already.