Select Agents and Toxins are a collection of designated infectious agents and toxins that, by their nature, have the potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety; this threat has resulted in the creation of a number of legislative acts.
Initiated with the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, and bolstered by the USA Patriot Act of 2001, and the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, the Select Agents and Toxins program oversees the transfer, possession, and use of biological agents (viruses, bacteria) and toxins that have the potential to be a severe threat to public or environmental health. Possession of the specified agents or toxins without registration carries severe civil and criminal penalties. Possession of Select Agents or Toxins over exempt amounts is not allowed at Stanford at this time and would require prior approval from the Vice Provost and Dean of Research and registration with the NSAR Program. The application and further information may be found on the National Select Agents Registry (NSAR) website.
The list of select agents is constantly changing, but the List of Select Agents and Toxins is updated.
Stanford University is currently not registered for possession of select agents. For use of any biological select agent, contact the Biosafety Program.
