Oral Presentation Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2013

Culturing of microorganisms—dual use concerns in the Culture Media (#108)

Ronald Atlas 1
  1. University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, United States

Since the anthrax attacks of 2001 there has been increasing concern that knowledge in the life sciences could be misused by terrorists.  This has led to the formation of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and frameworks for constraining dual use research of concern (DURC) in the United States.  Internationally there have been meetings at the WHO to address concerns about DURC. The Australia List is also used to control exports of materials that could be misused for bioterrorism. The Australia control list contains specific biological agents as well as equipment and technologies.  It does not currently control specific microbiological media. Should some requests for microbiological media raise concerns about potential misuse?  Should knowledge about the composition of microbiological media used for the culture of potential biothreat agents be constrained?  Are there formulations of microbiological media that could be useful for forensic purposes in the event of a future bioterrorism attack?