DURC Agents and Experiments

What Agents are subject to the Policy?

Research that directly involves any of the following 15 agents and toxins*

Avian influenza virus (highly pathogenic)

Bacillus anthracis

Botulinum neurotoxin (in any quantity)

Burkholderia mallei

Burkholderia pseudomallei

Ebola virus

Foot-and-mouth disease virus

Francisella tularensis

Marburg virus

Reconstructed 1918 Influenza virus

Rinderpest virus

Toxin-producing strains of Clostridium botulinum

Variola major virus

Variola minor virus

Yersinia pestis

*Except attenuated strains of the agents that are excluded from the Select Agent list and inactive forms of botulinum neurotoxin

What type of experiments are subject to the Policy?

  1.  Enhances the harmful consequences of the agent or toxin
  2. Disrupts immunity or the 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 policy

For more information about the U.S. Government DURC Policy, click here.