Select agent

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In United States law, select agents are pathogens or biological toxins which have been declared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have the "potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety". The Centers for Disease Control administers the Select Agent Program, which regulates the laboratories which may possess, use, or transfer select agents within the United States. The Select Agent Program was established to satisfy requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, which were enacted in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the subsequent 2001 anthrax attacks.

The active use of select agents in biomedical research prompt concerns about dual use. The federal government has created the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, a critical component of a set of federal initiatives to promote biosecurity in life science research. This advisory board composed of government, education and industry subject matter experts provide policy recommendations on ways to minimize the possibility that knowledge and technologies emanating from vitally important biological research will be misused to threaten public health or national security.