BSL-4 – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

February 21, 2022

Have hybrid coronaviruses already been made? We simply don’t know for sure, and that’s a problem

Filippa Lentzos, King's College London and Gregory D. Koblentz, George Mason University

Risky life-science projects need global governance. Unfortunately, current standards and practices are not up to the task.

Security precautions, thoughtful facilities design, careful training and safe lab practices help keep pathogens isolated. Boston University Photography

November 4, 2022

We work with dangerous pathogens in a downtown Boston biocontainment lab – here’s why you can feel safe about our research

Ronald Corley, Boston University

The microbiologist who directs the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories at Boston University explains all the biosafety precautions in place that help him feel safer in the lab than out.

A virologist stands between rows of cages for laboratory animals in the new high security laboratory (biosafety level 4) at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany. dpa picture alliance/Alamy Stock Photo

June 14, 2021

Fifty‑nine labs around world handle the deadliest pathogens – only a quarter score high on safety

Filippa Lentzos, King's College London and Gregory D. Koblentz, George Mason University

A large proportion of scientific research on coronaviruses is carried out in countries with no oversight of experiments designed to make pathogens more deadly.

Microbes are everywhere – and they aren’t all friendly. spawns/E+ via Getty Images

June 11, 2021

Working with dangerous viruses sounds like trouble – but here’s what scientists learn from studying pathogens in secure labs

Jerry Malayer, Oklahoma State University

Scientists get up close and personal with deadly pathogens to give doctors the tools they need to treat people sickened by germs. The key is keeping the researchers – and everyone around them – safe.

A security guard leads reporters away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology after a WHO team arrived for a field visit in Wuhan, Hubei province of China, Feb. 3, 2021. The team came to no conclusions about the origins of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

June 6, 2021

Origins of SARS‑CoV‑2: Why the lab‑leak idea is being considered again

Benoit Barbeau, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

Gain-of-function studies make a natural virus more dangerous or transmissible to humans. Could the Wuhan Institute of Virology be the source of SARS-CoV-2?

Articles on BSL-4

Displaying all articles