IN BRIEF
Prior administrations have limited the scope of some scientific research on moral or ethical grounds. Deciding to block research is about more than simply asking if a development could be used for good or for evil.
Scientific research can change our lives for the better, but it also presents risks – either through deliberate misuse or accident. Think about studying deadly pathogens; that’s how we can learn how to successfully ward them off, but it can be a safety issue too, as when CDC workers were exposed to anthrax in 2014 after an incomplete laboratory procedure left spores of the bacterium alive.
