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Shang, Lijun, Zhang, Weiwen and Dando, Malcolm (2024) Addressing the biological security educational gap. Journal of Strategic Trade Control (JoSTC). (In Press)
Addressing the gap in dual-use research within the framework of responsible research under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) presents a significant challenge for all stakeholders, particularly within life science communities. While biosecurity education has long been recognized as a key strategy to address this issue, its effective implementation remains crucial. In this contribution, the authors provide an overview of the recently edited volume Essentials of Biological Security: A Global Perspective, describing its potential as a pivotal tool in addressing this gap. The book begins by underscoring the importance of enhancing biological security, particularly in the post-pandemic era, and defines biological security as the prevention of natural, accidental and deliberate disease in humans, animals and plants. While stressing the interrelated and critical nature of these aspects, the book primarily focus on the prevention of deliberate disease within the life sciences. In this context, the authors underscore and address the crucial role of scientists and their institutions, as highlighted by World Health Organisation (WHO)’s Global Guidance Framework for the Responsible Use of the Life Sciences. Additionally, beyond delineating the structure and content of the book, its timeliness, significance, overarching objectives, and scope, this commentary proposes that, in the longer term, an International Biological Security Education Network (IBSEN), akin to the successful model of the International Nuclear Security Education Network (INSEN) managed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), would be essential in effectively improving biosecurity.
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