Full statement here: tinyurl.com/5n7mrjrz

GP WMD Counter Disinfo@gp-wmdctrdisinfo.bsky.social · last wk.

The @gpwmd.bsky.social Counter Disinfo Initiative made a statement to #UNGA81 #FirstCommittee today on why #disinformation matters for arms control. Our central point: CBRN-related disinformation is not simply about getting facts wrong. It is about weakening trust.

CivSoc statement on #bioweapons to #UNGA81 #FirstCommittee says #1972BWC must keep pace with changing biorisks shaped by #AI, synbio & lab automation. Delivered by @Alex_Phelan, it calls for progress on S&T review, compliance, verification, investigations tinyurl.com/4h38kfph

The more immediate #AI #bioweapons concern is not that AI suddenly enables amateurs but that it amplifies already capable actors, I told @guardian. The key question is which barriers AI lowers, for whom, and at what points in the biological threat pathway. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Could AI ‘change the stakes’ in the development of bioweapons?

Experts say the technology could help terrorists and nation states with production but that significant hurdles remain

theguardian.com

“Anticipation is about preserving our capacity to act, rather than simply react.” A good framing from Swiss State Secretary Alexandre Fasel at #GESDASummit. Pleased to join the Engineering Life panel to discuss emerging biothreats and the governance gaps they expose. #biosecurity

A stress test is not a threat map. Lower barriers do not mean low barriers. And biological risk extends far below the threshold of catastrophe. @yblim.bsky.social and I on what Biological War gets wrong — and why it matters for biosecurity policy. thebulletin.org/2026/10/anni...

Annie Jacobsen’s road from Siberia to Armageddon is paved with bad assumptions

Following recent reports of a death at a secretive Siberian disease research lab, author Annie Jacobsen has become a sought-after media interview. Some interviewers are now casting Jacobsen's new best...

thebulletin.org

This one's worth a read. Both authors are top bioscience experts who, in my experience, do not make bad assumptions. thebulletin.org/2026/10/anni...

Annie Jacobsen’s road from Siberia to Armageddon is paved with bad assumptions

Following recent reports of a death at a secretive Siberian disease research lab, author Annie Jacobsen has become a sought-after media interview. Some interviewers are now casting Jacobsen's new best...

thebulletin.org

Good to see The Economist drawing on my work in its coverage of the reported Siberian plague incident. My key point: transparency matters. Without a clear account of what happened and how the incident was handled, uncertainty inevitably fuels speculation. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

The plague may have escaped from a lab in Siberia

Russian secrecy means it is unclear how grave the threat is

economist.com

We still don’t know exactly what happened at Russia’s Irkutsk anti-plague institute. That uncertainty is the problem. My new piece for UnHeard on why we need better ways to investigate possible lab-linked outbreaks. unherd.com/2026/10/the-...

The lesson of the Russian plague

unherd.com

The biggest problem with the Siberian plague incident right now is the lack of clear, consistent information, I tell @telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

Important piece in @lemonde.fr on AI & biosecurity, bringing together several recent dev'ts that are too often treated separately. As I told Hervé Morin: “What worries me is not a spectacular breakthrough, but the direction of travel.” www.lemonde.fr/sciences/art...

La menace de microbes dangereux fabriqués avec l’aide de l’intelligence artificielle se concrétise

Alors que les premiers virus conçus par IA viennent d’être décrits par une équipe américaine, le géant Anthropic annonce avoir été confronté à des tentatives de détournement de ses modèles pour créer ...

lemonde.fr

Countries could soon begin shaping a verification system for the Biological Weapons Convention, something it still lacks. They should build a verification scheme that generates robust, independently acquired and mutually intelligible evidence, writes Filippa Lentzos @filippalentzos.bsky.social. ⬇️

Are countries making bioweapons? ‘Bioaudits’ could help find out

Countries could soon begin shaping the contours of a verification system for the global treaty banning bioweapons–something the Biological Weapons Convention, which entered into force in 1975, still…

buff.ly

Great to see @gregkoblentz.bsky.social and my work on #GlobalBioLabs featured in The Lancet's editorial this week. Excited to say we'll be updating numbers of #BSL4 labs very soon. Watch this space! www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Biosecurity in a rapidly changing world

Anthony Fauci's US senate committee hearings were a chilling political circus. Fauci, the 85-year-old retired Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID; part of the ...

thelancet.com

Spiez #Convergence 2026 has wrapped—cutting-edge science and sharp policy discussion on what emerging S&T means for #1972BWC and #CWC. Great to see so many brilliant women helping shape—and drive—the future of #biosecurity. Congrats Spiez Lab & team!

An incredibly powerful film by @beafihn.bsky.social and her team at Lex International on lethal autonomous weapons and developing an arms control framework. Pre-screened in Geneva last night. Out on TikTok in about a month.

Really enjoyed exploring how #bioaudits could form a layer in #1972BWC #verification with @hooverinstitution.bsky.social colleagues – thanks @drewendy.bsky.social for initiating this timely conversation www.hoover.org/research/bio...

Biosecurity Really: A Strategy for Victory

Current trends make clear that biosecurity will become much more challenging over the next several years. We must act strategically to secure biology—before it becomes a general-purpose technology. Dr...

hoover.org

A thoughtful piece by Alina Chan I @nytimes.com this week on thorny governance questions of risky biological research, with some very cool interactive graphics, including a reworked version of @gregkoblentz.bsky.social and my #GlobalBioLabs map. (1/4) www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Opinion | How to Stop a Lab Leak From Starting the Next Pandemic

More than six years after the emergence of Covid-19, no one is keeping track of the risky virus experiments that are capable of starting a pandemic.

nytimes.com

🚨 #1972BWC delegates: join @gp-wmdctrdisinfo.bsky.social at 13:15 in Room VIII today for an introduction to the Matryoshka War report and to learn about #disinformation as a threat to the BWC.

The #1972BWC WG mtg gets underway this morning at the Palais des Nations @ungeneva.bsky.social -- for the first time in the Assembly Hall! Follow along here: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1v...

"We are not starting from scratch," I tell @sciam.bsky.social on AI-designed viruses. There is already substantial governance of pathogens. "The challenge is to connect that existing governance to the new upstream capability to design biology digitally." www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...

Scientists are using AI to design new viruses. What could go wrong?

Research is outpacing regulation to govern artificial-intelligence-designed biology

scientificamerican.com

Many thanks to #1972BWC WG Chair, Amb Meyer 🇧🇷 and ISU for hosting an online exchange with civil society ahead of next week’s Working Group negotiations in Geneva.

“It’s important to see the bigger governance picture and not focus regulation solely on the AI model,” I tell The Guardian on the AI viruses experiments just published in Science. “A layered approach makes more sense." www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Safety fears as scientists make first viruses designed by AI

Researchers say breakthrough offers hope for new medicines but also raises urgent biosecurity questions

theguardian.com

Delighted and honoured to join Health Emergency Readiness Canada’s Life Sciences Expert Advisory Council, supporting Canada’s work on biosecurity, health emergency preparedness and responsible life sciences innovation. www.kcl.ac.uk/news/kings-b...

King's biosecurity expert appointed to advise Canada on life sciences and health security | King's College London

Dr Filippa Lentzos of King’s College London has been appointed to advise the Government of Canada on strengthening biosecurity, health emergency preparedness and the responsible development of the lif...

kcl.ac.uk

A fantastic @sipri.org Summer School this week on WMD #NonProliferation in an era of #TechConvergence. Timely discussions, excellent participants, and a real pleasure to be part of it. And so nice to cool down a little in the North ;-)

Had a chance to visit the European Centre for Disease Control and its beautifully designed Emergency Control Room in Stockholm this morning. Thanks for having me, @ecdc.europa.eu!

I spoke with Spanish #FactChecker, Maldita, about DNI statement on a US funded 'global biolab program'. In short: there's no evidence to support claims of nefarious experimentation or weaponisation. For more on bio #disinformation, see @gp-wmdctrdisinfo.bsky.social maldita.es/desinfo/2026...

Qué sabemos de las acusaciones de la directora de Inteligencia Nacional de Estados Unidos sobre que Ucrania tiene laboratorios biológicos financiados por el Gobierno de Biden·Maldita.es - Periodismo p...

La directora de Inteligencia Nacional de Estados Unidos, Tulsi Gabbard, publicó un post con un vídeo en Twitter (ahora X)…

maldita.es

Bags packed, panel notes ready and posters printed. #GHS2026 here I come!

Always giving to engage with the next generation, this time on the joint @ethz.ch & Spiez Lab 3-day course ‘Preventing military misuse of life sciences: Roles and responsibilities of scientists’. #biosecurity #BWC1972

On risks of #MirrorLife, I tell @newscientist.com: The right response is not panic nor dismissal, but careful upstream governance, clear red lines around risky work & a proportionate research agenda that doesn't crowd out more immediate biosecurity priorities. www.newscientist.com/article/2528...

Mirror life: Scientists clash over threat of lab-engineered bacteria

Bacteria created using mirror images of natural biomolecules would pose a grave threat to life on Earth, some researchers warn, but a new study suggests they would struggle to survive in the wild

newscientist.com

A great couple of days with colleagues at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo last week. Hugely excited to show off our current mapping of Norway's #biosecurity landscape at the Global Health Security conference June 9-12 in Kuala Lumpur.

At the UNODA & GCSP workshop on #1972BWC violation assistance today, I argued the policy focus must be on building, connecting and rehearsing the capacities that make meaningful assistance possible BEFORE a #bioweapons incident occurs