Is My Research DURC?

1. Does your research include DURC Agents and/or toxins?

Agents and toxins specified by the U.S. Government as governed by its DURC policy. The below list of agents and toxins will be subject to revision to reflect future changes in federal DURC policy, but as currently defined, the following 15 agents and toxins, in any quantity, are governed by federal and University policy on DURC:

  1. Avian influenza virus (highly pathogenic)
  2. Bacillus anthracis
  3. Botulinum neurotoxin (any quantity)
  4. Burkholderia mallei
  5. Burkholderia pseudomallei
  6. Ebola virus
  7. Foot-and-mouth disease virus
  8. Francisella tularensis
  9. Marburg virus
  10. Reconstructed 1918 Influenza virus
  11. Rinderpest virus
  12. Toxin-producing strains of Clostridium botulinum
  13. Variola major virus
  14. Variola minor virus
  15. Yersinia pestis
2. Does your research include one of the experimental effects of concern?

Research involving any DURC agent must be evaluated to determine whether it produces, aims to produce, or can be reasonably anticipated to produce one or more of the following effects. Final evaluation is determined by the Institutional Review Entity (IRE). 

  1. Enhances the harmful consequences of the agent or toxin. 
  2. Disrupts immunity or effectiveness of an immunization against the agent or toxin, without clinical and/or agricultural justification. 
  3. Confers to the agent or toxin resistance to clinically and/or agriculturally useful prophylactic or therapeutic interventions against that agent or toxin or facilitates their ability to evade detection methodologies. 
  4. Increases the stability, transmissibility or the ability to disseminate the agent or toxin. 
  5. Alters the host range or tropism of the agent or toxin. 
  6. Enhances the susceptibility of a host population to the agent or toxin.
  7. Generates or reconstitutes an eradicated or extinct agent or toxin listed in the definition of DURC Agents.
3. Does your research meet the definition of “DURC”?

This evaluation is only applicable when your research involves one of the 15 DURC agent/toxins, listed in #1 AND includes one of the experimental effects of concern, listed in #2.

The IRE will take into consideration the risk identified and determine whether the research in question meet the definition of DURC: Life sciences research that, based on current understanding, can be reasonably anticipated to provide knowledge, information, products, or technologies that could be directly misapplied to pose a significant threat, with broad potential consequences, to public health and safety, agricultural crops and other plants, animals, the environment, materiel, or national security.