Prof. Ronald M. Atlas: Confronting the Dual Use Dilemma

October 01, 2015

By Mega Liani Putri

Editor Mega Liani Putri

BANDUNG, itb.ac.id - A professor from University of Louisville, USA, who is also the professional in biodegradation, Ronald M. Atlas, was in ITB to as a guest lecturer on Thursday (01/10/15). He was invited by the Department of Environmental Engineering and The Research Group of Water and Wastewater Treatment, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering ITB. Not only the students of Environmental Engineering attended the lecturer, but also the students of Microbiology because the topic, Biosecurity, is one of the classes taught in that major.

A Little about Prof. Ronald M. Atlas

Prof. Atlas has been working on petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation for more than 45 years. He is called as "The Father of Bioremediation" by the world practices. He has published more than 300 journals. He has also been invited to lots of international scientific meetings and conferences.
In United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Prof Atlas involves in Advisory Board of Bioremediation. Besides US EPA, Prof. Atlas is also a part of Academy of Microbiology Task Force on Bioremediation.

The Dual Use Dilemma

Through his leture, Prof. Atlas explained about "Dual Use Dilemma" in life sciences. Dual Use Dilemma is a term of using microorganism for two purposes which are civilization (science and technology development) and military (bioweapons). The title of the lecture was "Infectious Diseases and Security: Confronting the Dual Use Dilemma".

Biosafety while using microorganisms is really important for occupational health and laboratory safety, according to Prof. Atlas. Pathogen moreover; they must be prevented to get away from research circumstances. Some cases in the past proved that the pathogens that escaped from laboratory caused outbreaks in area where the wind blew it away to.

Next, Prof. Atlas emphasized the need of Biosecurity to prevent the misuse of microorganisms as bioweapons. Since 1962 USA claimed that they have stopped the production and the use of bioweapons. In 1972 the other countries in the world followed, including Indonesia. So, the monitoring is needed so that there will be no bioweapons ever been used anymore. "Never spread disease intentionally," he said.

To prevent the misuse of microorganisms, Prof. Atlas also recommended the limitation of scientific publications' access. The researchers needs to concern about what to publish. In addition, there must be a strict selection of the ones who can get the information. "Who do you trust?" He asked the audiences to think about the trust-worthy ones for their discovery in the future.
As he ended the lecture, Prof. Atlas said that there should be Responsible Conduct or the procedure to do scientific research with integrity. The discovery must not be misused. "Prevent the life sciences from death sciences," he concluded.