Amazing speed from the teams in Uganda and the DRC - impressive! Three genomes released so far - a few quick takes: 1️⃣ New genomes ~equidistant from 2007 and 2012 outbreaks. 2️⃣ Represents new spillover from reservoir. 3️⃣ Limited diversity, so too early to speculate on timing. Great work ⭐!
Kristian G. Andersen@kgandersen.bsky.social · 3mo ago
AI is rapidly expanding what’s possible in biotech from accelerating drug discovery to designing new proteins. But as this Nature feature explores, those same tools also raise important biosecurity questions. Balancing innovation with responsible stewardship is essential.
AI can design viruses, toxins and other bioweapons. How worried should we be?
Scientists are debating whether to limit biological AI software to ward off threats.
nature.com
An unprecedented number of US scientists are trading in their lab coats to run for office in the US mid-term elections in November. go.nature.com/3QePHLk
‘Science needs defending’: record number of researchers run for office in US mid-terms
Many Democrats making the switch to politics are motivated by the Trump administration’s cuts to science — whereas energy and AI are a pull for some Republicans.
go.nature.com
I really appreciate this framework for digital responsibility by Mike Godwin (who coined Godwin's Law). 1. Verify Before You Amplify. 2. Treat Your Mistakes as Gifts. 3. Know Your Sources and Know Their Provenance. 4. Make Your Claims Checkable. 5. Be a Steward of the System, Not Just a User.
Oligo-length biosecurity vs. AI engineering Bruce Whittmann, @erichorvitz.bsky.social, our @jdiggans.bsky.social & team examine the vulnerabilities of biosecurity screening software to AI-reformulated synthetic homologs of POCs that have been cut into smaller segments. @twistbioscience.com
On sabotage of our young scientists, by @holdenthorp.bsky.social @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
From global DNA screening standards to safeguards for benchtop synthesizers & AI tools, a new biosecurity playbook is taking shape. Experts like our head of biosecurity, @jdiggans.bsky.social are thinking about this playbook so you don’t have to: bigthink.com/science-tech...
How to deter biothreats in the age of gene synthesis
From global DNA screening standards to safeguards for benchtop synthesizers and AI tools, a new biosecurity playbook is taking shape.
bigthink.com
We ran a randomized controlled trial to see if LLMs can help novices perform molecular biology in a wet-lab. The results: LLMs may help in some aspects, but we found no significant increase at the core tasks end-to-end. That's lower than what experts predicted. Our findings 🧵
Why universal gene synthesis screening protects American biotech www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-am...
Why universal gene synthesis screening protects American biotech
A recent bill, the Biosecurity Modernization and Innovation Act, outlines a vision for comprehensive gene synthesis screening standards.
washingtonexaminer.com
LLMs are good at idea quality, but weak on idea variance. GPT-4's brainstorm pools are less diverse than humans, unless you prompt for diversity explicitly. CoT prompting gets closest to “team human.” papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
"Some 10,109 doctoral-trained experts in science and related fields left their jobs last year as President Donald Trump dramatically shrank the overall federal workforce." www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies
science.org
Google’s AlphaGenome deep learning model wants to do for DNA what AlphaFold did for proteins www.chemistryworld.com/news/googles... #biology #AI #bio #biotech
Google’s AlphaGenome wants to do for DNA what AlphaFold did for proteins
Model predicts effect of mutations on sequences up to 1 million base pairs in length and is adept at tackling complex non-coding regions
chemistryworld.com
This 🧵- any ‘article of the future’ proposals must consider this first. Discussions about new features/formats for human readers make little sense until we address this.
Wolfgang Huber@wkhuber.bsky.social · 6mo agoOur existing institutions for upholding research quality (journals, peer review, grant panels) are ill-equipped for the coming tsunami of probably correct but trivial stuff.
Amazon is buying copper harvested by bacteria for its data centers
Amazon is buying copper harvested by bacteria for its data centers
Bacteria-powered copper mining
buff.ly
Tonight marked the last broadcast of PBS News Weekend for the foreseeable future. As the show signs off the air, anchor John Yang looks back at some of our top stories and highlights over the years. https://to.pbs.org/4pxYe7W
Highlights from PBS News Weekend as show goes off the air
This Sunday is the final broadcast of PBS News Weekend, at least for the foreseeable future. PBS cancelled the show due to the loss of federal funding for public media. As our team signs off the air, anchor John Yang looks back at some of our top storie...
to.pbs.org
This afternoon, retired Army general Stanley McChrystal spoke at the retirement ceremony hosted by HRC for six trans service members who were forced out under Trump’s ban. “I shouldn’t have to be thanked for being here. First off, we shouldn’t be here. This shouldn’t be happening.” Full remarks:
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
🤩 🎉 We’re thrilled to see our collaboration highlighting the importance of iterative improvement, cross industry collaboration, and foresight in biosecurity screening in the age of AI with @microsoft.com in this list: news.microsoft.com/source/featu... @twistbioscience.com, @jdiggans.bsky.social
@nti.org convened global experts at the 2025 MSC for a scenario involving an AI-designed virus to examine risks, opportunities, and needed governance. Hear insights from Brian Tse, @jdiggans.bsky.social, @bethcameron-dc.bsky.social, @jaimeyassif.bsky.social & Haley Severance.
Report Launch: Safeguarding AIxBio Capabilities to Prevent Global Catastrophe
YouTube video by Nuclear Threat Initiative
youtu.be
@nti.org is launching its new AIxBio governance report emerging from a 2025 MSC tabletop exercise with high-level international experts. Hear insights from Brian Tse, @jdiggans.bsky.social, @bethcameron-dc.bsky.social, @jaimeyassif.bsky.social , & Haley Severance. 🔗 Register Now ⬇️
Report Launch: Safeguarding AIxBio Capabilities to Prevent Global Catastrophe
"Safeguarding Against Global Catastrophe: Risks, Opportunities, and Governance Options at the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Biology," highlights actions the international community can t...
nti.org
The outbreak in Ethiopia is #Marburg virus, the first such outbreak for this country. 9 cases so far, including some health workers. x.com/drtedros/sta...
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X: "#Ethiopia has confirmed the outbreak that has infected at least 9 people in the south of the country is of #Marburg virus disease. I commend Ethiopia’s @FMoHealth for its rapid and transparent response to the outbreak, and the work of the Ethiopia Public Health Institute and" / X
#Ethiopia has confirmed the outbreak that has infected at least 9 people in the south of the country is of #Marburg virus disease. I commend Ethiopia’s @FMoHealth for its rapid and transparent response to the outbreak, and the work of the Ethiopia Public Health Institute and
x.com
Microsoft has a fabulous behind-the-science blog paraphrasing the Paraphrase Project. 😉 @erichorvitz.bsky.social, Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian, and our own @jdiggans.bsky.social are thinking about the latest threats to biosecurity so you don’t have to...
The 2025 Ebola outbreak in Kasai, DRC, is caused by a virus virtually identical (>99.5%) to the one from Yambuku in 1976. Half a century later, the genome hasn’t changed. That’s not supposed to happen with an RNA virus. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Ebola virus in Kasai revives 50-year-old questions on viral latency
On Sept 4, 2025, DR Congo declared its 16th Ebola virus outbreak. The epicentre of this outbreak occurred in the Kasai province—the first resurgence in this region since 2008.1 Genomic analysis identi...
thelancet.com
$40 billion dollars is the size of the entire NIH budget.
Robert Reich@rbreich.bsky.social · 10mo agoTrump says his $40B bailout for Argentina's failing libertarian economy is "not gonna make a big difference for our country." Really? Imagine if we invested those billions on healthcare and housing for Americans, instead of bailing out Trump's pals abroad.
Collaborators @erichorvitz.bsky.social, Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian & @jdiggans.bsky.social discuss the paper in this engaging podcast. Watch it here: www.microsoft.com/en-us/resear... Read the paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @twistbioscience.com, @msftresearch.bsky.social
Ideas: More AI-resilient biosecurity with the Paraphrase Project - Microsoft Research
In “Ideas,” collaborators Eric Horvitz, Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian, & James Diggans discuss a red-teaming effort that exposed & secured a biosecurity vulnerability in AI-driven protein design—& w...
microsoft.com
New blog post: Asymmetries in Biosecurity doi.org/10.59350/c5e...
Asymmetries in Biosecurity
RAND Report: Why biology still favors the offense in biosecurity
doi.org
How do we decide what not to share? I explore “information hazards” in this blog--on when openness in science risks misuse. Paraphrase effort led to a first-of-its-kind publishing model, accepted by Science: "When AI Meets Biology" aka.ms/AAy56z3 Full paper on the project avail here: aka.ms/AAy5e9c
The Paraphrase Project
Strengthening nucleic acid biosecurity screening against generative protein design tools — improving hazard detection in the age of AI-assisted protein engineering.
aka.ms
In “Ideas,” collaborators Eric Horvitz, Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian, & James Diggans discuss a red-teaming effort that exposed & secured a biosecurity vulnerability in AI-driven protein design—& what the work shows about managing AI’s dual-use risks. msft.it/6010sLYsr
Venture capitalists in clean tech are starting to say out loud what they’ve suspected for a while: China’s dominance has left key sectors in the West uninvestable
China Road Trip Exposes List of Uninvestable Assets in the West
Venture capitalists in clean tech are starting to say out loud what they’ve suspected for a while: China’s dominance has left key sectors in the West uninvestable.
bloom.bg
