SCIENCE AT A TIME OF TERROR

Abstract

SINCE SEPT. 11, 2001—AND THE anthrax contamination in Florida, New York City, and Washington, D.C., that followed soon after—concern has been rising about the ability of terrorists to glean useful information from scientific literature, especially in the life sciences. Although there have been no confirmed cases of foreign terrorists using published research to implement terrorist acts, national security experts and scientists as well have become increasingly worried that it could happen. In fact, concern in Washington, D.C., has risen to such a level that the American Society for Microbiology (ASM)—which has felt a lot of heat for the research it publishes—asked the National Academies (NAS) to convene a workshop titled Scientific Openness and National Security. NAS agreed, and on Jan. 9, it brought together Washington, D.C., a distinguished group of scientists, journal publishers and editors, and national security experts from a variety of government agencies, including the CIA, FBI, and Department of ...