Essays --

It is no secret that in the decade after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, defense spending increased in the United States, but something that people are less aware of are the continued government efforts toward biodefense: protecting a country of more than 317 million people from the threat of biological warfare. In 2004, Congress passed the Project Bioshield Act. The aim of Project Bioshield was to create a market for medical products to be provided to the public at large in the event of bioterrorism. It called for more than 5 billion dollars to be used to purchase vaccines, over a 10-year period. (The White House, 2004). As we approach the 10-year mark of Project Bioshield, and consider all of the advancements in bioengineering and biotechnology that have occurred since then, it’s important to reflect but also to look forward into what the next decade of biodefense innovation might look like, and what ethical impacts it may have. According to a paper published by the Center for Bioethics at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (Loike and Fischbach, 2013), we face eight ethical challenges as our biodefense efforts increase. â€Å"1. Allocation of resources and personnel and cost benefit analysis. 2. Triage assessment. 3. Clinical testing of potential therapies or vaccines in young children and older adults. 4. Preventing unauthorized individuals from entering research laboratories. 5. Dual-use: publication of papers containing useful information that also could be used to create bioweapons. 6. Dual-use: curtailing the development of harmful technologies while promoting beneficial applications by scientists of these technologies. 7. Restriction of personal freedoms. 8. Allocation of ... ...lications of biodefense technology, of which biological engineers are at the heart of. Biological engineers have a triple role in biodefense: some develop biodefense technology; some find applications for new biodefense technology; all have an obligation to first and foremost protect the people. The first fundamental canon of the Code of Ethics for Engineers is that â€Å"Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public† (NSPE). Developing new biodefense technology fits in with this mission, but only if we also take care of the three ethical issues raised above: adequately testing new vaccines and medical products so that they do not pose risk to the user, showing care in publishing new technology that could be used in a harmful way, and promoting beneficial applications of such technology.