Consequently, the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust jointly held a meeting called Do no harm: reducing the potential for the misuse of life science research on 7 October 2004. The meeting brought together practising life scientists with policy makers, funders and other interested parties to identify what the issues were and how they might be addressed.
The report of the meeting summarises the key points from the discussion, which have potential implications for research funding bodies including Research Councils, university administrators at both department and institution levels, scientific and trade organisations, industry and academia.
The presentations given at the meeting are available below under related documents.
We would welcome your thoughts on the meeting report and suggestions for practical measure that would move these issues forward. Comments would greatly help the Royal Society and Wellcome Trust's ongoing policy discussions on this issue.