Sequence-Based Classification of Select Agents: A Brighter Line

Excerpt

In 2006, the National Science Advisory Board for Biodefense (NSABB) issued Addressing Biosecurity Concerns Related to the Synthesis of Select Agents, which called for expert evaluation to determine whether an alternative framework based on predicted features and properties encoded by nucleic acids, such as virulence or pathogenicity, can be developed and used in lieu of the current finite list of specific agents and taxonomic definitions. Our committee was tasked with identifying “the scientific advances that would be necessary to permit serious consideration of developing and implementing an oversight system for Select Agents that is based on predicted features and properties encoded by nucleic acids rather than a relatively static list of specific agents and taxonomic definitions.”