Introduction to Volume VII

We are pleased to publish Volume VII of the Journal of Biosecurity, Biosafety and Biodefense Law. This volume continues the Journal’s tradition of shining light on emerging and important issues within the fields of biosecurity, biosafety, and biodefense law, both from a practical as well as a theoretical perspective. The lead article of Volume VII is an article entitled Control Groups on Trial: The Ethics of Testing Experimental Ebola Treatments by Professor Carl H. Coleman of Seton Hall University School of Law. In it, Professor Coleman explores the ethical arguments and controversies of conducting experimental clinical drug trials of Ebola treatments during the 2013–2016 outbreak. The remaining articles selected for Volume VII are divided into three subject-matter areas. The first addresses distributive justice in the biosecurity context. The second focuses on domestic biosecurity threats. Finally, the third addresses public health emergencies and legal preparedness. The first section features one article on distributive justice and biosecurity. Author Justin Foster in his article Do Not Hit Print: The Impact of 3D Printing on Distributive Justice and Why Regulations are Necessary to Prevent Consumer 3D Vaccine Printers highlights the security concerns of 3D biological printers and the importance of regulating these printers, especially during a mass outbreak as manufacturers are able to develop and distribute vaccines more quickly than ever before. The second section analyzes threats to our national biosecurity. Nicholas Custred begins by examining the legal tools available to Texas in controlling the spread of dengue-infected mosquitos and dengue-infected immigrants in Dengue Fever: A Border Threat Without a Safety Net? Second, in The Elephant in the Room: Is HIV/AIDS a Present National Security Threat and What Needs to be Done to Combat this Issue? Nolan McConville discusses an undeveloped nation’s inability to build an effective health system and the effect this has on the continued spread of HIV around the world, which continues to threaten