The anthrax mailings that petrifiedAmericans soon after the 9/11 attacks a decade ago this fall, killing five people and sickening 17, led to an explosion of biodefense research in the United States. Nearly $19 billion has been spent-a huge increase over previous levels and about one-third of the entire $60 billion the country has put into biodefense preparedness. Although the influx of funds has yielded scientific insights and some new products, how much safer the country is as a result is a matter of debate. One concern is the expansion of high-containment labs. The country now has a dozen labs, eight more than in 2001, that will operate at biosafety level 4 (BSL-4), the highest security level for deadly pathogens such as Ebola virus. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which snagged most of the new research money, also used a chunk of it to build a host of major BSL-3 labs.
展开▼
