HOUSE BILL NO. 5263
October 26, 2023, Introduced by Reps. Paquette, St. Germaine, Wozniak, Bezotte, DeBoyer,
BeGole, Aragona, Johnsen, Rigas, Smit, Carra, Roth, Borton, Bruck and Jaime Greene and
referred to the Committee on Government Operations.
A bill to amend 1978 PA 368, entitled
"Public health code,"
(MCL 333.1101 to 333.25211) by adding section 2670.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 2670. (1) A person shall not conduct pathogen enhancement
2 engineering or research.
3 (2) A person that violates subsection (1) is guilty of a
4 felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years, a fine
5 of not more than $100,000.00, or both.
LEP H03537'23
 2
1 (3) If an individual reports conduct to the department that
2 leads to the discovery that another person is violating subsection
3 (1), the department shall reward that individual with $50,000.00.
4 (4) The department shall notify individuals who are employed
5 by biological research facilities of the potential for a reward
6 under subsection (3). The department shall also create and
7 distribute to individuals described under this subsection education
8 materials that include the Biological Weapons Convention Treaty and
9 18 USC 175.
10 (5) As used in this section:
11 (a) "Pathogen enhancement engineering or research" means the
12 act of altering a naturally or synthetically derived pathogen to
13 enhance environmental persistence, transmissibility, pathogenicity,
14 infectivity, or virulence.
15 (b) "Person" means that term as defined in section 1106 or a
16 governmental entity.
LEP Final Page H03537'23


Statutes affected:
House Introduced Bill: 333.1101, 333.25211