Recording of a webinar hosted by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) on 30 November 2021. Dual-Use Research of Concern (DURC) describes research (typically in the life sciences) that is intended to produce answers to legitimate research questions but may be misapplied with nefarious purposes. DURC is defined by the National Institutes of Health as follows: “DURC is 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”.
The misuse of research findings, either intentionally or not, is a long-standing concern of science, but governance of the subject has been lagging. In the United States, several policies and legislation governs DURC nationally, and internationally to those that may be receiving research funding or attempting to publish research findings in US-based scientific journals. Currently, there is no policy or legislation in South Africa governing DURC (directly), other than the Acts and Regulations addressing non-proliferation. This webinar is a scientific engagement to share knowledge and experiences with DURC internationally and nationally.
