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Sep 2, 2026

A Standardized Framework for Assessing High-Risk Life Sciences Research

Two recent federal policies establish funding prohibitions and research review requirements for certain life sciences pathogen or toxin research. In response, researchers recommend an objective, transparent decisionmaking framework with defined dangerous gain-of-function (DGOF) criteria.
Expert Insights

Aug 27, 2026

Hardening Critical Infrastructure Software in an Era of Rapid AI Advancement: An Urgent Call for Coordinated Action

This paper provides expert analysis on artificial intelligence–accelerated vulnerability discovery and the structural hardening of critical infrastructure software.
Research

Aug 25, 2026

Achieving AI Model Weight Security Level 3 (SL3)

RAND proposes Security Level 3 (SL3), a framework of 262 security controls to protect artificial intelligence (AI) model weights against organized cybercrime and insider threats, achievable within six to 12 months.
Research

Aug 24, 2026

Leveraging the Federal Select Agent Program to Oversee Nucleic Acids: Volume 2, Potential Benefits and Burdens, Recommendations, and Implementation Considerations

The increasing availability of synthetic genetic materials poses public health risks that may warrant regulation, but in deciding how to do so, it is also necessary to weigh the burdens on industry and the research community.
Research

Aug 24, 2026

Leveraging the Federal Select Agent Program to Oversee Nucleic Acids: Volume 1, Analysis of Opportunities to Control Genomes, Genes, and Gene Fragments Through the Federal Select Agent Program’s Authorities

The increasing availability of synthetic genetic materials may pose public health risks that may warrant regulation to ensure that certain materials are accessible only to researchers who will use them responsibly.
Research

Aug 21, 2026

Realising the 100 Days Mission

The speed at which vaccines and other medical countermeasures can be developed and deployed is critical. The 100 Days Mission aims to accelerate readiness, helping contain emerging pathogens before they become global emergencies.
Expert Insights

Aug 18, 2026

Mirror Biology Research: Implications for Operational Governance

There is growing scientific and policy attention being paid to the risks of mirror life, but recognition of the problem has so far outpaced the development of concrete oversight. Researchers consider how the governance of mirror biology research might begin to be operationalized.
Research

Aug 18, 2026

Building a Defense-in-Depth Biosecurity Strategy for the AI Era

The authors develop a layered mitigation strategy for responding to the threat of misusing artificial intelligence–enabled biology. They examine mitigations’ strengths and weaknesses, describe areas of mutual reinforcement, and propose next steps.
Research

Aug 18, 2026

Personal Protective Equipment Prioritization and Demand: Using Occupational Characteristics to Understand Risk and Benefits

This report presents an occupation-based framework to estimate vital workforce size and personal protective equipment demand during a pandemic. An interactive dashboard supports scenario-based planning at the national, state, and regional levels.
Research

Aug 17, 2026

AI Development in the United States and China: Evidence from a New Dataset of AI Developer Firms

The authors sought to systematically characterize commercial artificial intelligence ecosystems within the United States and China and thus broaden the empirical foundation for business intelligence and policy analysis.
Research

Aug 12, 2026

Respirator Surge Manufacturing: Options to Ensure U.S. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Can Surge the Manufacturing of Respiratory Personal Protective Equipment

Small and medium-sized enterprises stepped up production of personal protective equipment in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and could do so again if the conditions exist for them to remain viable, competitive, and surge ready.
Research Summary

Aug 11, 2026

Assessing the Energy Potential of Artificial Intelligence Data Center Sites

Researchers designed a framework to assess possible data center sites for their energy potential. The framework is intended to serve as an energy-potential screening tool for planners, policymakers, and developers.

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