Corie Lok

Earlier this week, Boston University outlined how it will screen scientists wishing to work with dangerous pathogens in the new BL4 facility now being built in the South End (see Globe article). While the FBI has a standard screening process in place for anyone wanting to work in such high-security labs (to check for criminal records, for example), BU said its screening will go further, looking into the financial, psychological and medical histories of the researchers.

The BU measures are a sign of the times we’re living in. The university says it will check to see if, for example, the scientist’s house has been foreclosed on. Presumably, giving someone in financial stress access to lethal bugs wouldn’t be a good idea. And the case of Bruce Ivins, the Army scientist who was the FBI’s prime suspect in the anthrax mailings of 2001 and who committed suicide over the summer, has focused attention on what labs should do to tighten up security. According to the Globe’s article, BU said it might change its screening measures based on the results of the Ivins investigation.