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July 17, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Mail-Order Molecules Brew a Terrorism Debate"

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (07/17/02) P. A1; Weiss, Rick 

Critics say the U.S. government needs to toughen its scrutiny of the DNA synthesis industry following the disclosure that scientists in a New York lab used mail-order molecules to make polioviruses.  Though it is not unusual for DNA suppliers to make custom-designed pieces of DNA for academic and pharmaceutical research, the fact that Integrated DNA Technologies used molecules from its inventory to make polioviruses from scratch at a time when biological warfare and bioterrorism poses a very real threat to the public has elicited calls for the U.S. government to re-examine the regulations governing the production and shipment of dangerous microbes.  Roman Terrill, vice president of legal and regulatory affairs at Integrated DNA Technologies, agrees that under the current system, the government and DNA synthesis companies have little way of discerning the intent of the customer for whom these labs are constructing the viruses

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