50 Years of the Biological Weapons Convention: Tracking the Journey

50 Years of the Biological Weapons Convention: Tracking the Journey (Editor: Ajey Lele, Pentagon Press/MP IDSA, 2025) is a tribute to the Biological Weapons Convention (hereinafter referred to as the BWC), in its Golden Jubilee year (2025), which has been “a foundational pillar of global disarmament and non-proliferation.” The book has five sections, comprising 14 chapters contributed by renowned Indian and international researchers, scholars, academicians, scientists

Biosafety, Biosecurity and Code of Ethics

The dual use research in life sciences has raised serious concerns for bio-safety and bio-security today as there exists possibilities of misuse of knowledge, information, products and technologies to promote bio-terrorism or bio-warfare activities. Misuse may pose consequential threat to public health and safety, agricultural crops and other plants, animals, the environment, material or national security. India has strict and robust regulations on bio-safety and bio-security policies that provide adequate safeguards for responsible conduct and oversight of life sciences research. However, safety measures are far from satisfactory and the implementation agencies are weak. There is an acute shortage of technically-trained manpower and machinery to strictly enforce the regulatory system.

B.M. Gandhi
January 2015