Beschrijving

Science and Social Responsibility – Dual Use Research Biomedical research produces many important benefits for society, but it can also lead to harmful results. Is your research potentially ‘dual use’? A quick Dual Use Questionnaire (Attachment 2) will helpyou answer this question.

The term ‘dual use’ refers to research that can be used to both good and bad ends and specifically to the risk that: (1) dangerous agents being studied could be stolen or diverted for malevolent purposes, or (2) results, knowledge, or techniques developed in the course of the research could be used to develop new toxins or pathogens. For example, research on bacterial resistance could be used to develop new antibiotics or to make a biological weapon. Research on human genetics could be used to develop treatments for people with genetic diseases or to discriminate against people, based on their genotypes. Among the earliest examples is the research by Fritz Haber and by Albert Einstein (Attachment 1). While scientists often have little control over how their research is applied, used, or interpreted by others, they can regulate the use of shared reagents/data/specimens through Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) or Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs). Most importantly, they have a responsibility to try to anticipate the possible social consequences of their research, maximize the good consequences, and minimize the bad ones. The cases developed for this year’s annual Responsible Conduct of Research Training for NIH Intramural Researchers address, in different ways, the social responsibilities of biomedical researchers with respect to dual use research (cases adopted from SERCEB – see below). Dual use research is expected to be very rare.

URL: https://oir.nih.gov/sourcebook/ethical-conduct/responsible-conduct-research-training/annual-review-ethics-case-studies