BiolabsAmid controversy, Boston City council debates banning Level 4 Biolab

Boston has long been seen as “America’s Medical Capital,” but that may soon change if the city passes a measure to ban Level 4 biolab disease research at Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory – research which includes deadly and untreatable strains that could decimate an exposed urban population in the event of an accident or terrorist activity.

As the Boston Globe reports, the “Boston City Council committee will hold a hearing on Councilor [Charles] Yancey’s proposed ordinance to ban level 4 research at the bio lab.”

Former mayor Tom Menino signed off on the project to move forward, and the $200 million facility was built with money from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In a 2012 paper, the NIH outlined their solutions to a variety of risks involving the facility, including transportation hazards and procedures within contaminated areas.

The climate changed once Marty Walsh, the current mayor, was elected and later “expressed trepidation about Level 4 research within the city.”

Now, the fear of potential danger and the many “what-ifs” regarding a mistake or accident have led individuals like Councilor Yancey to conclude that “I am not convinced that we really need to invite that possibility to the City of Boston.”

TheGlobe, however, argues that the facility is necessary to keep Boston on the map as a safe, responsible medical research powerhouse. They argue that “Beyond that, it would hamper the advance of scientific knowledge about infectious disease. The BU facility is equipped with sophisticated equipment absent at many other facilities; some of the research projects that would otherwise occur at the Boston bio lab might go to other facilities; but some wouldn’t occur at all.”

The measure will be discussed during the week of 21 April at the Boston City Hall.