Biotech akin to nuclear dawn: UN chief
Pastor Dale Morgan
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*Biotech akin to nuclear dawn: UN chief*
From correspondents in Geneva
November 18, 2006 10:42pm
Article from: Reuters
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for an international drive to
both harness and control biotechnology, warning that the world was on
the threshold of a new era similar to the advent of nuclear power.
Mr Annan said that biotechnology offered huge promise in terms of
medical advances, environmental protection and food security for rich
and poor.
But he warned that it also brought huge dangers if it fell into the
wrong hands, with the threat of biological weapons or "accidents"
growing as scientific knowledge and skills become more widely available.
"We find ourselves at a point akin to the one in the 1950s, when
far-sighted citizens, scientists, diplomats and international civil
servants recognised the enormous potential impact of nuclear power," Mr
Annan said.
"The challenge then was to harness the power of nuclear energy for
civilian use, while preventing the spread of nuclear weapons."
Mr Annan highlighted the development of new vaccines opened up by
biotechnology to deal with long standing and emerging viruses, the
prospect of new treatments for diabetes and other diseases.
"The bright side of biotechnology reflects the best of human progress in
the service of the deepest human needs," he said.
However, the recent reconstruction of the genome of the polio virus or
of the lethal Spanish influenza virus that killed millions in 1918 were
fraught with danger.
"In the right hands and with the appropriate safety precautions, these
are sound scientific endeavours that increase our knowledge of viruses,"
Mr Annan said.
"But if they fall into the wrong hands, they could be catastrophic," he
said, warning of the potential for "the most profound human suffering"
through intentional disease outbreaks caused by states and individuals,
or the accidental release of pathogens.
Mr Annan called for a two-pronged global initiative.
One would use biotechnology and life sciences "to build better lives for
people around the world" by expanding the availability of new
technologies encouraging transparency and increasing cooperation.
"That includes improving human health and food security, and thereby
encouraging economic growth and reducing global inequalities," he said.
The second involved bringing together myriad discussions on safeguards
against biological weapons and other risks by scientists, the Red Cross,
different UN bodies and faltering attempts to strengthen the Biological
Weapons Convention.
"How to reach workable consensus on appropriate measures is a subject
crying out for focused global debate," he said.