BU Biolab Safety Guidelines Outlined

The Boston University biolab is still under construction. Now, its top officials are detailing what sorts of background checks will be done on anyone who wants to work within the facility.

According to interviews with the Boston Globe, BU biolab officials say scientists looking for work at the facility will have to face an aggressive background check.

Before they can handle the world’s deadliest germs, scientists at a controversial laboratory being built by Boston University in the South End will undergo psychological testing and will have their financial records scoured, measures that administrators said are designed to prevent lethal organisms from getting into the wrong hands.

The background checks will emphasize the financial background check because they want to “spot researchers . . . whose financial plight could leave them susceptible to stress-fueled mistakes – or even extortion.”

The entire biolab has been a source of conflict in the neighborhood with many residents to felt is was not prudent to be working with volatile and deadly germs inside a building in the heart of an urban core.