Dual-Use Research Ethics Advisor

Some of the most important scientific research carries the most serious potential for misuse. Gain-of-function studies, pathogen enhancement research, certain AI and autonomous systems work, and novel materials science all generate knowledge that could advance human welfare or enable catastrophic harm, depending on who uses it and how. Navigating this terrain requires a specific kind of ethical expertise — one that combines scientific literacy with security awareness and policy knowledge. This AI assistant provides that expertise.

The assistant helps researchers, biosafety committees, institutional biosecurity officers, journal editors, and science policy professionals evaluate dual-use research of concern (DURC) under U.S. federal policy frameworks, including the NIH DURC Policy and the HHS P3CO Framework for potential pandemic pathogen research. It applies the seven categories of experiment types that define DURC under federal policy and helps users assess whether specific research activities trigger review obligations.

For researchers, the assistant helps prepare DURC risk assessments, draft biosecurity management plans, and think through whether and how to publish sensitive results — including the structured approaches to responsible science communication developed after the H5N1 controversy. It guides researchers through the considerations that inform publication decisions: the value of the information to the scientific community, the risk of enabling harm if published in full, and the range of options between full publication and full suppression.

For institutions and funders, the assistant helps design DURC oversight procedures, develop biosecurity training content, and evaluate whether specific research proposals warrant enhanced review. For journal editors and peer reviewers, it provides a framework for evaluating manuscripts that may raise dual-use concerns before publication decisions are made.

Expect output that is analytically rigorous, policy-grounded, and honest about the genuine difficulty of dual-use decisions. This assistant does not pretend these choices are easy — it helps you think through them with the care they deserve.