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Politics : Homeland Security -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael Watkins who wrote (69)	10/26/2001 10:14:38 AM
From: Jill	Respond to of 827

:-) Maybe you're right...skeletons in da closet. Just to worry y'all more: Threat from fatal bugs as labs breach safety rules Special report: the ethics of genetics Antony Barnett, Public Affairs Editor Sunday August 19, 2001 The Observer A renowned government laboratory in Oxford working with a potentially lethal virus breached key safety laws designed to prevent deadly bugs from escaping and infecting the public. The violation is the latest in a recent escalation of critical safety breaches by scientists genetically modifying killer diseases to find cures or develop vaccines. An Observer investigation has discovered that several of Britain's leading research institutions working with HIV, TB, hepatitis and a range of other dangerous viruses have broken safety rules aimed at protecting the public from infection. Many of these breaches involve scientists genetically modifying viruses, creating new forms of diseases that could have catastrophic results if they escaped into the environment. Only two weeks ago Imperial College, London, was prosecuted and fined thousands of pounds for exposing the public to a lethal new genetically modified virus. Scientists were creating a deadly new hybrid virus, for which no vaccine or treatment exists, from dengue fever and hepatitis C. This is the second time this year that Imperial has been prosecuted for a 'seriously flawed' approach to health and safety involving research on lethal viruses. Its earlier prosecution involved exposing the public to an 'unacceptable risk' from HIV. The Observer has discovered that this year has seen a record number of prosecutions and violations of safety rules governing highly dangerous organisms. As well as legal action against Imperial College, Birmingham University was fined for putting staff and public at risk of contracting TB after ventilation filters in the medical school laboratories were found to be not working properly. This could have led to passers-by being infected with TB if there been a spillage. In May, the National Environment Research Council's laboratory in Oxford was criticised by government inspectors over its safety procedures involving GM research it was undertaking on the potentially lethal encephalitis bug. It has been ordered to refurbish its facilities by the end of the year or face prosecution. Health and safety inspector Simon Warne was concerned that, should there be an accident, it would be very difficult to fumigate the site and prevent it infecting workers and the public. In 1999 Edinburgh University was the first research institution to be prosecuted for work on HIV under new regulations governing research on dangerous GM organisms in the lab. As well as the prosecution against Imperial College and Edinburgh University, there have been 12 violations of the law designed to stop dangerous new GM viruses escaping into the environment. It has emerged that one of the most serious breaches occurred in 1995 when the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was forced to stop work it was doing in the heart of the capital on chagas disease, which kills many people in Latin America. Dr Sue Mayer, director of Genewatch, said: 'These incidents are very disturbing but I believe they are just the tip of the iceberg. There are now hundreds of institutions around the country using GM to create dangerous organisms, and the potential for a disaster is enormous. There is only a handful of inspectors checking what is going on, and the way university and research institutions have acted in the past suggests that this may well not be enough.' One of the problems is that many of Britain's laboratories have suffered years of neglect and the buildings predate the new regulations governing the type of research being undertaken. Science Minister Lord Sainsbury recently described the state of many laboratories as 'appalling' and went on to say: 'That does not make for good working practice in terms of efficiency, nor, I believe, safety.' The Government and the Wellcome Trust have announced £1.75bn for research and restoration of university research facilities. Ken Ashley, acting head of the dangerous pathogen unit at the Health and Safety Executive, said: 'The reason why there has been an increase in prosecutions is that far more work in this area is going on.' antony.barnett@observer.co.uk