Biosecurity education in school: A UK pilot study

There are increasing calls for the introduction of biological security and general chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) security concepts to students in secondary schools and, more broadly, the general public; however, no account of how to carry out such initiatives in a secondary school environment has yet been published. In this paper, we report our recent initiative to introduce biosecurity concepts to secondary and sixth-form students at Debden Park High School, UK. We first explain the background and rationale of this initiative and then describe how the project was delivered, including its design, implementation, novel methodologies, and the first-ever school biosecurity mini-conference. We also analyse student feedback and discuss future improvements. Through this project, we hope to lay the foundation for a framework for widespread biosecurity education and create awareness of the risks of dual-use research of concern (DURC) in schools.