Maximum containment : the most controversial labs in the world
Name
866582985-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
3.74 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
04735153b2cdec770fc8a9c31e8dbe1d
Author(s)
Bruzek, Alison K. (Allison Kim)
Advisor(s)
Philip Hilts.
Date Issued
2013
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
In 2002, following the September 11th attacks and the anthrax letters, the United States allocated money to build two maximum containment biology labs. Called Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) facilities, these labs were built to research new vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments for emerging infectious diseases, potential biological weapons, and to contribute to the nation's biodefense. These labs were not the first dramatic reaction to the threat of biowarfare and are in fact, one product of a long history of the country's contentious relationship with biological weapons. Of the two labs created, Boston University Medical Center's National Infectious and Emerging Disease Laboratories (NEIDL) has remained the more controversial given the urban community it resides in. However, increasingly the mandate of these labs has been expanded from biodefense to all infectious disease, regardless of their potential probability for use as a weapon. These include looking at pathogens that could potentially cause a pandemic like SARS, ebola, or smallpox. The repurposing of these labs could make them an invaluable contributor to the United States public health system.
Description
Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 40-51).
Subjects
Comparative Media Studies.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
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copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but
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