The dual use of research ethics committees: why professional self-governance falls short in preserving biosecurity - PubMed (original) (raw)

The dual use of research ethics committees: why professional self-governance falls short in preserving biosecurity

Sabine Salloch. BMC Med Ethics. 2018.

Abstract

Background: Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC) constitutes a major challenge for research practice and oversight on the local, national and international level. The situation in Germany is shaped by two partly competing suggestions of how to regulate security-related research: The German Ethics Council, as an independent political advisory body, recommended a series of measures, including national legislation on DURC. Competing with that, the German National Academy of Sciences and the German Research Foundation, as two major professional bodies, presented a strategy which draws on the self-control of science and, inter alia, suggests expanding the scope of research ethics committees (RECs) to an evaluation of DURC.

Main body: This situation is taken as an occasion to further discuss the scope and limits of professional self-control with respect to security-related research. The role of RECs as professional bodies of science is particularly analyzed, referring to the theoretical backgrounds of professionalism. Two key sociological features of professionalism - ethical orientation and professional self-control - are discussed with respect to the practice of biomedical science. Both attributes are then analyzed with respect to the assessment of DURC by RECs.

Conclusion: In conclusion, it is stated that issues of biosecurity transcend the boundaries of the scientific community and that a more comprehensive strategy should be implemented encompassing both professional self-control and legal oversight.

Keywords: Biosecurity; Dual use research of concern; Germany; Professionalism; Research ethics committees.

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The author declares that she has no competing interests.

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