Improving The Safety And Security Of Biological Research

The order cuts funding for specified research conducted in poorly supervised foreign settings and tightens safeguards for federally funded research. It also initiates controls for high-risk research conducted without federal funding.

What the order does ​

• Ends federal funding for dangerous gain-of-function research by foreign entities in countries of concern or places lacking adequate oversight.
• Suspends federally funded dangerous gain-of-function research while a revised oversight policy is developed, subject to reviewed exceptions.
• Requires updated research-oversight rules within 120 days and updated synthetic nucleic acid screening guidance within 90 days.
• Orders a strategy within 180 days to govern, limit, and track high-risk research conducted without federal funding, including a legislative proposal for authority gaps.
• Requires funded institutions to report covered research and creates a public source of information on relevant awards, suspensions, and terminations, while protecting national security and intellectual property.
• Adds compliance certifications and enforcement terms to life-science grants and contracts, including funding revocation and up to five years of grant ineligibility.

Who it affects ​

• Universities, laboratories, researchers, and other institutions receiving federal life-science funding.
• Foreign research entities conducting high-risk work in countries of concern or jurisdictions lacking adequate oversight.
• Synthetic nucleic acid providers and manufacturers serving federally funded research.
• Federal agencies that fund, oversee, or contract for life-science research.

Context ​

The order defines dangerous gain-of-function research as work that enhances an infectious agent’s or toxin’s disease-causing potential or transmissibility and could have significant societal consequences.