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Yes / The revolution in neuroscience, based on the recent development of novel techniques such as brain imaging that allow greater insight into the working of the central nervous system, will be accelerated by the injection of major funding in state-level brain research projects around the world and will undoubtedly lead to great benefits. However, the results of the research may be subject to hostile misuse, which in the context of chemical and biological weapons has been called the problem of dual use. An example could be the development of novel so-called non-lethal incapacitating chemical and biological agents that attack the central nervous system based on the knowledge derived from benignly-intended civil brain research. Unfortunately, most practicing neuroscientists are not aware of this problem and therefore cannot add their expertise to efforts to prevent such misuse. This paper reviews an attempt to test whether a Team-Based Learning (TBL) active learning exercise could be used to raise awareness of the problem of dual use amongst a group of practicing neuroscientists. It is concluded that TBL is a useful approach, but to effectively engage neuroscientists in helping to deal with dual use it would need to be incorporated within a co-ordinated national, regional and international educational initiative.

Throughout the world, systems of life science governance carry historical, cultural, and political legacies, which now confront the revolutionary and pervasive advances of twenty-first century biotechnology. Nations' adaptability to the twin challenges of attempting to secure the benefits while reducing the risks and threats is a large and still burgeoning governance challenge. The legacy of the Soviet Union is particularly important in this regard, since its history of prolonged authoritarian rule and intense development of biological weapons in combination with the continuing scientific and technological prowess of Russia is a governance challenge, unprecedented in its nature and scale. The aim of the dissertation therefore is to examine to what extent and by what means it is possible for Russia to reconcile its on-going expansion in biotechnology with the institutional and normative inertia arising from its Soviet past. The first part of the dissertation (Chapters 1-4) seeks to uncover and analyse both the growth and consolidation of the governance of biotechnology and the multifaceted governance challenges brought about by the rapid advancement of the life sciences in the twenty-first century. The second part (Chapters 5-8) examines the extent to which the Soviet institutional and infrastructural legacies in the culture of life science research still persist in Russia and impact the governance of biotechnology in that country. The concluding chapter offers an assessment of the current state of the governance of biotechnology in Russia and outlines a scope for further research.

Throughout the world, systems of life science governance carry historical, cultural, and political legacies, which now confront the revolutionary and pervasive advances of twenty-first century biotechnology. Nations' adaptability to the twin challenges of attempting to secure the benefits while reducing the risks and threats is a large and still burgeoning governance challenge. The legacy of the Soviet Union is particularly important in this regard, since its history of prolonged authoritarian rule and intense development of biological weapons in combination with the continuing scientific and technological prowess of Russia is a governance challenge, unprecedented in its nature and scale. The aim of the dissertation therefore is to examine to what extent and by what means it is possible for Russia to reconcile its on-going expansion in biotechnology with the institutional and normative inertia arising from its Soviet past. The first part of the dissertation (Chapters 1-4) seeks to uncover and analyse both the growth and consolidation of the governance of biotechnology and the multifaceted governance challenges brought about by the rapid advancement of the life sciences in the twenty-first century. The second part (Chapters 5-8) examines the extent to which the Soviet institutional and infrastructural legacies in the culture of life science research still persist in Russia and impact the governance of biotechnology in that country. The concluding chapter offers an assessment of the current state of the governance of biotechnology in Russia and outlines a scope for further research. / Wellcome Trust

In the rapidly advancing field of the life sciences, issues relating to responsibility for research are becoming a key area of discussion. Attempting to conceptualise how individual and collective responsibilities may be attributed to scientists for their research is proving both difficult and complex. Issues relating to responsibility for research may be loosely divided into two different areas. Internal responsibilities refer to those that scientists hold to their research and their colleagues to ensure that high quality data is produced with integrity. Broad social responsibilities, in contrast, reflect the social contract that scientists hold with society and refer to the commitment of scientific research to enhance and promote humanity in a manner that takes into consideration social priorities and norms. By far, research on internal responsibilities has formed the bulk of current discussions on responsibility in life science ethics. These responsibilities have come to be represented by the field of research ethics, which focuses on the prevention of misconduct and the promotion of globally harmonised approaches to daily conduct. Research ethics has been widely endorsed, and a high level of international agreement has resulted in country-specific approaches to awareness raising and pedagogy – such as the Responsible Conduct of Research approach developed in the USA – being applicable for use in divergent social contexts. In contrast, however, broad social issues have received comparatively less attention from the life science ethics community. Indeed, these topics often do not have a place in ethics curricula, or form “add-on” topics to ethics modules. This thesis suggests that presenting broad social issues as a progression of research ethics topics may cause considerable difficulties for pedagogy. In particular, this thesis suggests that these problems arise through the promotion of an internationally harmonised approach to research ethics, the focus on avoiding misconduct, and the reliance on informal teaching within laboratories as a fundamental aspect of perpetuating research ethics. This thesis suggests that the crucial issue of contextual variations within ethics discussions is often marginalised. I argue such variations may have considerable implications for how scientists engage with notions of professional responsibility. Such points are particularly salient when noting that many scientists in developing countries are introduced to these topics through Western-centric ethics modules that do not take into account social, regulatory and physical variations in research environments in these countries. In order to critically interrogate contextual variations and social responsibility, the thesis makes use of an interdisciplinary approach, using a variety of methods of investigation. The topic of dual-use – the potential for beneficial research to be misused by third parties for nefarious means – was taken as a focalising example of a broad social issue and formed the basis of comparative investigations with scientists in sub-Saharan Africa and the UK. The fieldwork results showed significant variations between how scientists in developing countries and developed countries interacted with the topic of dual-use. It became clear that the Western-centric approach promoted by most current dual-use awareness raising initiatives, and the implicit research ethics teaching approaches in these models, caused considerable difficulties for African scientists attempting to access these discussions. Using the theoretical framework outlined at the beginning of the thesis and the fieldwork, the thesis concludes by proposing a number of changes that could be made to the way that broad social issues are presented to scientists within ethics pedagogy.

The thesis is focused on trade of European Union with dual-use goods. Dual-use goods is goods that can be misused for production of weapons of mass destruction. For this reason the trade with dual-use goods is regulated. The purpose of thesis is to analyse the environment of dual-use goods' trade and assess whether the control of the export is sufficient. The thesis includes the analysis of development of trade with dual-use goods.

This paper is discussing the latest development of Artificial Intelligence and puts into perspective two major players in the field of AI development - states and private companies. The premise is, that private companies are leading the development of AI technologies and together with their growing impact on states and international relations as such, they are becoming more important and more powerful. We, therefore, research, whether the AI may be to any extend used by these private actors against states. Starting with its dual-use capabilities, we are showing the current threats enabled by AI technology. We then illustrate specific cases, when Artificial Intelligence was involved in elections in Brazil and the United States and elaborate the argument, that AI may be misused and eventually possess an advantage over the adversary, in these cases private companies. Debating what AI is, what is the current position of major private actors is towards the state, and revealing the potentials of AI, we build up the argument that AI-enabled technologies may indeed be an advantage.

Agrivoltaic (AV) systems are dual-use land systems that consist of elevated solar panels with crops grown underneath. They offer a solution to the increasing demand for food production and clean renewable energy. The main concern regarding AV systems is the reduced availability of light to crops below the panels. Research to date shows that AV systems are quite productive with total energy and crop production exceeding the outputs of either solar farms or crop production alone. Research also shows that solar panels affect the microenvironment below the panels. The research on AV systems so far considers altering panel density to increase radiation to the crops by varying the distance between rows of panels in an AV solar array. This study examines the crop outputs for Swiss chard, kale, pepper, and broccoli in an AV system with different gap spacings of 2, 3, 4, or 5 feet (AV plots) between panel clusters within rows to determine how much spacing between solar panels is optimal for crop production by comparing these system yields to full sun crop production. This study also examines the effect of the AV system on crop nutrient levels, on soil water content, and crop leaf temperature below the panels. Ultimately, the biomass crop yields of AV plots are restricted significantly for Swiss chard, kale, or pepper compared against the full sun control plot yields but not for broccoli stem + leaf yields. The 4-ft or 5-ft gap distances between panels yield the highest crop biomass of the AV shaded plots. Nutrient levels tend to increase with more shade but the trend is only significant for Swiss chard nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, pepper potassium concentrations, and broccoli phosphorus concentrations. For soil water content it is found that panels have some effect on evapotranspiration and rainfall redistribution at the soil level. Leaf temperatures in the AV plots are lower than leaf temperatures in the control plots on sunny days but not on cloudy days.

No / The COVID-19 virus pandemic has again demonstrated the devastating impact that a microbial pathogen can have on our health, society and economic systems. It necessitates a fundamental rethink of how the security of our societies can be better sustained. This rethinking will require many aspects of our security systems to be re-examined, but we concentrate here on the consequences of the rapid advances being made in the life and associated sciences. In this chapter, we will describe and analyse one of the most likely means by which the BTWC could be strengthened at the 9th Review Conference, namely: agreement of an International Aspirational Code of Conduct supported by mandatory biological security education for life and associated scientists. We conclude that a vigorous effort by civil society will be needed to assist the achievement of an agreement on this issue at the 9th Review Conference.

This dissertation is comprised of two manuscripts that explore various contestations and representations of knowledge about the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1virus. In the first manuscript, I explore three narratives that have been produced to describe the 20-year journey of the virus. The journey begins in 1996 when the virus was a singular localized animal virus but then over the next 20 years multiplied its ontological status through a (de)stabilized global network of science and politics that promoted both fears of contagion and politics of otherness. Written by and for powerful actors and institutions in the global North, the narratives focused on technical solutions and outbreak fears. In doing so, the narratives produced policies and practices of biopower that obscured alternative considerations for equity, social justice, and wellbeing for the marginalized groups most directly affected by the H5N1 virus. The second manuscript explores a unique aspect of the H5N1 virus's journey as an emerging infectious disease -- its representation as a potential weapon for bioterrorists. The US government's recent attempt to secure what constitutes H5N1 knowledge produced a global debate between scientists and policy makers over how to balance the nation-state's desire for security with the life science's tradition of openly shared research. Known as the dual-use dilemma, this debate set up binaries of impossible reconciliation between the two groups. This dissertation argues that the dual-use dilemma obscures larger questions of justice. I propose a new concept of justice, knowledge justice, as an alternate more globally inclusive framework for exploring ways out of the dilemma. The concept is premised on the assertion that if knowledge is framed to obscure justice issues, then the justice questions of owning that knowledge can be used as a way out of the dual-use dilemma. Thus, knowledge becomes a question of justice that should be as important to policy makers as more traditional justice considerations of inequities in distribution, recognition, representation, and fairness. / Ph. D.