Last year, the Biosecurity Office developed the 'Dual-Use Quickscan'. This new online tool has been available in Dutch and English since the spring. The Biosecurity Office recently published an article about the development, application and implementation of the Quickscan.

After the Dual-Use Quickscan was launched online last spring, the Biosecurity Office worked on making the tool more widely accessible internationally. This has led, among other things, to the publication of the article “Dual-Use Quickscan: A web-based tool to assess the dual-use potential of life science research” in the scientific journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology in the section Biosafety and Biosecurity . The article describes the lack of clear and practical guidelines for researchers to monitor their research on dual-use aspects and how the Dual-Use Quickscan can assist by providing a quick, practical check.

The purpose of the Dual-Use Quickscan is to identify potential dual-use aspects in the research. In addition, this tool contributes to stimulating dual-use awareness among researchers. The article explains how the Quickscan was developed and how the 15 questions and themes are structured. It discusses who, when and how often you fill in the Quickscan and what the results mean. In addition, it is described how the Quickscan can be applied in practice and how it can be integrated into a broader biorisk management system.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2021.797076/abstract