• ARGUMENT: AI-DESIGNED BIOWEAPONS LOOMAre We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?

    Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”

  • GAIN OF FUNCTION RESEARCHTrump Administration Issues Restrictive Executive Order to Govern Gain-of-Function Research

    Last week President Trump signed an executive order which imposes new restrictions on gain-of-function (GoF) research. Scientists and biosecurity experts say it is not unreasonable to review the security measures governing GoF research, but that the administration has used a definition of GoF which is too broad, vague, and inaccurate, raising the concern that the United States will become less safe, and less prepared for unforeseen biothreats, as essential research and important studies would be hobbled because of the wide net cast by the executive order.

  • SENSORSLow-Power Sensors Could Last 10 Years, Providing Surveillance, Security

    By Mollie Rappe

    Researchers at Sandia have spent the last three years developing an ultra-low-power chemical sensor to detect sarin and other chemical warfare agents or gaseous industrial toxins, aiming to protect the public and warfighters.

  • BIOSECURITYAI Tools Can Enhance U.S. Biosecurity; Monitoring and Mitigation Will Be Needed to Protect Against Misuse

    A new report recommends ways for the U.S. to reap the benefits of artificial intelligence in biotechnology while minimizing risks that AI may be misused to develop harmful biological agents.

  • BIOLOGICAL WEAPONSForging the Biological Weapon Convention: A Brief History of the Creation of the BWC

    The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) stands as a monument to international ambition: the first multilateral treaty to comprehensively ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The treaty’s origins are deeply rooted in the horrors of 20th-century warfare, advancements in biotechnology, and the geopolitical tensions of the Cold War.

  • BIORISKSThe Far-Reaching Impacts of Agricultural Biorisk Research

    By Jay Bickell

    There is a deep interconnection between agricultural biorisks and human health. It is critical that this perspective is brought to the forefront of policy and research discussions so that agricultural biorisks are prioritized as a threat to national security and receive the necessary research funding: .A summary of the USDA ARS 8th International Biosafety & Biocontainment Symposium.

  • ARGUMENT: TULSI GABBRD AS DNI“Tulsi Gabbard as US Intelligence Chief Would Undermine Efforts Against the Spread of Chemical and Biological Weapons”: Expert

    The Senate, along party lines, last week confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National intelligence. One expert on biological and chemical weapons says that Gabbard’s “longstanding history of parroting Russian propaganda talking points, unfounded claims about Syria’s use of chemical weapons, and conspiracy theories all in efforts to undermine the quality of the community she now leads” make her confirmation a “national security malpractice.”

  • BIOTERRORISMAI, Bioterrorism and the Urgent Need for Australian Action

    By Greg Sadler

    Experts worry that, within a few years, AI will put that capability into the hands of tens of thousands of people. Without a new approach to regulation, the risk of bioterrorism and lab leaks will soar.

  • FOOD SECURITYBiosecurity for Food Security

    By Saba Sinai and Andrew Henderson

    Biosecurity is a fundamental enabler for a country’s’ food security, a critical but often overlooked element of national security, and it is time for it to be treated accordingly.

  • BIODEFENSENational Bio and Agro-Defense Facility Comes Under Budget

    DHS has commissioned the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas under budget, and has returned $10,082,355.80 in gift funds to the state of Kansas.

  • BIOSECURITYCanada’s Biosecurity Scandal: The Risks of Foreign Interference in Life Sciences

    By Brendan Walker-Munro

    In July 2019, world-renowned biological researchers Xiangguo Qiu and Keding Cheng were quietly walked out of the Canadian government’s National Microbiology Lab (NML). The original allegation against them was that Qiu had authorized a shipment to China of some of the deadliest viruses on the planet, including Ebola and Nipah. Then the story seemed to go away—until now.

  • BIORISKSNew International Biosecurity Organization Launched to Safeguard Bioscience

    Amid rapid advances in bioscience and biotechnology that could  pose significant global security risks without effective guardrails, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) last month launched the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS), a first-of-its-kind organization to strengthen international biosecurity governance. IBBIS, an independent organization to be headquartered in Geneva, provides tools that will allow technological innovation to flourish, safely and responsibly.

  • BIORISKSDeveloping Safety Tools for Synthetic Biology to Defend Against Potential Misuse of AI

    Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to help develop biotechnologies that can improve human health or that may increase harm. Organizations performing nucleic acid synthesis must be aware of AI-related risks and need guidance in identifying and mitigating those risks.

  • BIORISKSAttributing Biological Weapons Use

    Why is attribution of BW use important? During a biological incident, including BW use, what evidence might provide valuable information to facilitate attribution? What is the state of the science for determining the origin of a biological incident, including BW use? What capabilities does DoD possess or could it develop to facilitate attribution of BW use?

  • AI & WMDDoes AI Enable and Enhance Biorisks?

    The diversity of the biorisk landscape highlights the need to clearly identify which scenarios and actors are of concern. It is important to consider AI-enhanced risk within the current biorisk landscape, in which both experts and non-experts can cause biological harm without the need for AI tools, thus highlighting the need for layered safeguards throughout the biorisk chain.