Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology call for strong US biodefense strategy

As advancements are made in biotechnology and the treatment of diseases, the U.S. government must strengthen its security to combat the threat of states or individuals potentially launching a biological attack, argues the president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

In a recent letter to the president, PCAST offered guidance on how the United States can prepare for and respond to any type of pathogen despite the challenges of a rapidly changing environment where threats are not always predictable.

“While the ongoing growth of biotechnology is a great boon for society, it also holds serious potential for destructive use by both states and technically competent individuals with access to modern laboratory facilities,” PCAST said in the letter.

“As the security challenges evolve rapidly with technological advances, it is important that the federal government’s own thinking about how to protect the nation keeps pace.”

Since 2001, the United States has invested billions of dollars on preparing for and responding to both deliberate biological attacks and natural disease outbreaks. But the council made the case that work is far from complete.

A strong biodefense strategy goes beyond protecting the nation from a potential bioterrorism attack. It also better positions federal agencies to react to outbreaks of naturally occurring diseases, like the flu or the Zika virus.

PCAST, an advisory group of the nation’s scientists and engineers appointed by the president, recommends that the White House bolster its efforts to strengthen leadership for situational awareness, threat assessment, response coordination, and strategic planning and accountability for any type of biological threat.

In order to spot potential risks early, PCAST called for fortifying a national laboratory network for pathogen surveillance and genomic sequencing.

The president and Congress should work together to establish a Public Health Emergency Response Fund in order to be in a better position to respond to outbreaks before they become major crises, the Council said.

The ability to respond to a biological threat in the future also depends upon the development of key medical countermeasures today. In order to protect the public during a biological threat, countermeasures need to be rapidly deployed within days of the detection of a pathogen.

As a goal within the next decade, PCAST urged that the United States gain the ability to completely develop, manufacture, test and license vaccines to combat infectious organisms for which vaccine creation paths exist, within a six-month period.

While state and local governments are on the front lines when fighting outbreaks of diseases, the federal government can also help those networks share data and coordinate efforts over regions, PCAST said.