Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences presents Biosecurity Code of Conduct
It was drawn up by the Biosecurity Workgroup, which was inaugurated for this purpose by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). The code was presented to Mr Renk Roborgh, the director-general for Higher Education, Vocational Education and Science at the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, on 22 October 2007.
The potential misuse of biological knowledge and materials has been an increasingly important topic on the international agenda for the past six years. The InterAcademy Panel (IAP), a global network of science academies, has drawn up guidelines for drafting a Biosecurity Code of Conduct for scientists. In 2005, this resulted in a statement endorsed by 68 science academies worldwide.
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences commenced developing a national biosecurity code of conduct for research and teaching organisations in 2006, at the request of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. The code defines responsibilities and terms of reference for governance and sanctions. Because a code of conduct is useful only if it reflects scientific practice, members of the scientific community and representatives of business and government were directly involved in developing the code from the very start, as members of a liaison group.
The publication of a code of conduct for researchers, teachers and students in the biosciences signals the end of the first phase of the Biosecurity project. In order to encourage adherence to the code in everyday practice, the Academy is discussing a follow-up programme with the Ministry. Debates, workshops and publicity will serve to publicise the code among scientists and ensure long-term awareness of the issue of biosecurity.
The Biosecurity Workgroup that drafted the code was headed by Prof. Lous van Vloten-Doting (Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and Green Knowledge Cooperative). The other members were Prof. Stuart Blume, professor of Science Dynamics (Amsterdam University), Prof. Pedro Crous, director of the Fungal Biodiversity Centre (CBS-KNAW), and Prof. Lex van der Eb, chairman of the Academy's Animal Trials and Biotechnology Committee (CDB). The workgroup's secretary was Dr Koos van der Bruggen.
Prof. Jos van der Meer, member of the Academy's Executive Board, presented the code to Mr Renk Roborgh on 22 October.
A Code of Conduct for Biosecurity – Report by the Biosecurity Workgroup can be ordered or downloaded as a PDF file from the KNAW website.
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry
Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.
Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.
Newest articles
Microscopic basis of a new form of quantum magnetism
Not all magnets are the same. When we think of magnetism, we often think of magnets that stick to a refrigerator’s door. For these types of magnets, the electronic interactions…
An epigenome editing toolkit to dissect the mechanisms of gene regulation
A study from the Hackett group at EMBL Rome led to the development of a powerful epigenetic editing technology, which unlocks the ability to precisely program chromatin modifications. Understanding how…
NASA selects UF mission to better track the Earth’s water and ice
NASA has selected a team of University of Florida aerospace engineers to pursue a groundbreaking $12 million mission aimed at improving the way we track changes in Earth’s structures, such…
