WIKIMEDIA, CSIROThe 2012 creation of H5N1 bird flu strains that can be transmitted between ferrets spurred a debate among the scientific community about how such research, which could have deadly applications in the hands of bioterrorists, should be regulated. In February 2013, the US government issued a draft policy on such dual-use research, which collected 38 comments from institutions and researchers over the months that followed, Nature News blog reported. Yesterday (September 24), the final policy debuted; it contains guidelines for researchers studying any of 15 dangerous pathogens, including the avian influenza virus that brought these issues to the fore and the Ebola virus that continues to wreak havoc in West Africa.
The rules are intended to “preserve the benefits of life-science research while minimizing the risk of misuse,” National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins told The New York Times (NYT).
The policy, which will take effect next year, requires federally funded scientists working with these pathogens to alert their institutions to any potential of misuse of their research and states that it is the institutions responsibility to then decide if the work qualifies as dual-use research of concern (DURC). The report also notes that funding for such research will be highly scrutinized. Interestingly, the policy leaves out specific mention of gain-of-function research, such as that which rendered the H5N1 virus transmissible between mammals. Such experiments “would be outside the scope of the current framework,” ...
