The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) has released new guidance aimed at helping research funders better assess biosafety and biosecurity risks associated with life sciences projects involving infectious agents, toxins, or other potentially hazardous biological materials.
The guidance, developed by NTI’s biosecurity team, is designed to support funders in identifying research proposals that could pose risks to human populations through accidental exposure, unintended release, or deliberate misuse. It aligns with the International Bio Funders’ Compact, a global commitment by research funders to strengthen safety and security practices across the life sciences.
NTI emphasizes that biosafety and biosecurity are core components of responsible research. As funding decisions increasingly shape the direction and scale of biological research worldwide, the organization argues that funders play a critical role in preventing both accidental harm and malicious exploitation of scientific work.
According to the guidance, funders should evaluate not only the scientific merit of a proposal, but also the nature of the work being proposed, the safety and security of the research environment, and the potential consequences if biological agents or research-generated information were misused. NTI notes that these risks may arise from laboratory accidents, deliberate misuse of biological materials, or the unintended dissemination of sensitive information—often referred to as “information hazards.”
The guidance recommends that biosecurity and biosafety reviews occur after an initial scientific evaluation and only for proposals that have already demonstrated high value. This approach is intended to conserve resources while ensuring that higher-risk projects receive appropriate scrutiny. Funders are also encouraged to set clear expectations for compliance, incorporate safety and security requirements into funding agreements, and take reasonable steps to ensure that funded research complies with applicable national and local laws. Where regulatory frameworks are limited or absent, the guidance points to World Health Organization standards as a baseline.
NTI’s framework outlines a three-step review process. The guidance consists of three steps. The first step, Rapid Screening, serves to screen out research with low biosecurity and biosafety risk, thereby helping funders efficiently allocate their limited resources to higher-risk proposals and minimizing delay to lower-risk research. The second step, Detailed Assessment, should be completed only for proposals that are identified as higher risk in the Rapid Screen. The third step, Risk Mitigation, serves to ensure that any identified biosecurity or biosafety risks are appropriately addressed through feasible mitigation measures.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)