When terrorists attacked New York and Washington, DC on 11 September 2001 the physical and political impact was immediately apparent, but implications for science were less obvious. A few weeks later when another, more stealthy assault via mailed microbes was revealed, terrorism hit closer to home for US researchers. Soon it was clear that one of their own was likely behind the anthrax mailings, provoking suspicions among scientists themselves and intense scrutiny by government investigators.
Biological warfare was a hot research topic before the fall of 2001, but the threat made real and the possibility of further terrorism prompted a profusion of new rules and restrictions on how scientists conduct their work. The events of last fall also spurred expectations of a flood of funding for research that could contribute to the new 'war on terrorism'.
One year later, our reporter Peg Brickley asks whether those expectations have been fulfilled...
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