2026-09-19T04:56:07Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/838352026-06-06T01:05:53Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Philip Hilts.
Bruzek, Alison K. (Allison Kim)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Comparative Media Studies.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
2014-01-09T20:00:13Z
2014-01-09T20:00:13Z
2013
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/83835
866582985
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).
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.
by Alison K. Bruzek.
S.M. in Science Writing
51 pages
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by
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http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Comparative Media Studies.
Maximum containment : the most controversial labs in the world
Thesis
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<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.</Abstract>
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