As biotechnology advances, the risk of accidental or deliberate misuse of biological research like viral engineering is increasing. At the same time, "open science" practices like the public sharing of research data and protocols are becoming widespread. An article publishing April 14th in the open access journal PLOS Biology by James Smith and Jonas Sandbrink at the University of Oxford, UK, examines how open science practices and the risks of misuse interface and proposes solutions to the problems identified.