Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses. This introduction to the course underscores its focus on mitigating the risk of catastrophic pandemics, a specific aspect of the complex and multidisciplinary field of biosec...

Audio versions of the blog posts and papers from BlueDot courses. This table documents the known human-caused pathogen exposure events from 1975-2016, both accidental and deliberate, from peaceful research and bioweapons programmes...

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses. This document introduces the concept of information hazards (often called 'info hazards') and reasoning for why we should be cautious around them. It also provides a list of ...

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses. This report breaks down the categorisation of LLMs and BDTs into more specific subcategories of AI-enabled biological tools at each stage of the risk chain, from ideation to ...

This paper proposes two categories of AI models that could have impacts on biosecurity in different ways: large language models (LLMs) and biological design tools (BDTs). Overall, the author suggests that LLMs could lower barriers to biological...

Historically, the complexity and unpredictability of biology has meant most scientific progress in this field has come from slow and expensive trial-and-error experiments. This post explores three areas that are turning biology from trial-and-e...

There is a tension in the life sciences between scientific transparency and the need for secrecy to protect national or global security. This report introduces the term 'dual-use research of concern (DURC)' and covers debates from the last two ...

This article introduces a range of strategies to reduce pandemic risk whilst drawing parallels to fire-fighting interventions. It argues that pandemic prevention, like fire-fighting, needs a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, earl...

As synthetic biology techniques develop and the barriers to entry become lower, we are increasingly seeing the development of privately-operated biological labs. These often enforce less stringent safety standards than those in academia, and ca...

This article proposes four key actions that can be taken to prevent outbreaks from zoonotic spillover: protecting tropical forests, regulating or banning live wildlife markets, improving biosecurity for farmed animals, and improving health and ...

The document highlights the need for national-level norms for biosafety, given that a laboratory accident with contagious pathogens could have global implications. Despite guidance for local and institutional biosafety practices, there are few ...

This page gives a brief overview of the NIH's framework for guiding funding decisions on potentially risky research involving enhanced potential pandemic pathogens (ePPPs). Following the release of a report, 'Proposed Biosecurity Oversight Fram...

This Wikipedia article provides an overview of the Biological Weapons Convention, a disarmament treaty that bans the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological weapons. Despite 185 states being party to th...

DNA synthesis represents the primary interface between the digital and physical worlds when it comes to synthetic biology - the point at which potentially hazardous information could become an actually dangerous piece of biological material. No...

This resource provides a brief introduction to some of the most common terms used in infectious disease epidemiology.Original text:

This report covers the current landscape in pathogen early warning and biosurveillance, highlights challenges and identifies opportunities from emerging technologies. You will have the opportunity to dig deeper into some of the new technologies...

This paper discusses critical questions for gaining early situational awareness in an outbreak, using COVID-19 as an example. It highlights key queries about the pathogen, transmission modes, population vulnerability, and available medical coun...

Despite sharing a land border with China, Vietnam mounted one of the strongest early responses to COVID-19, reporting only 35 deaths by December 31, 2020, compared to 90,000 in the UK. This article highlights Vietnam's swift and proactive actio...

It will probably start with a cluster of unusual symptoms. Some of the people with the disease will know each other, but won’t have been exposed to animals, suggesting the infection can spread between people. Then more cases will start appearin...

Original text:https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-opinion-lessons-learned-from-covid-pandemic-global-comparison/...

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"During the COVID pandemic, we learned to design vaccines within weeks. Now, the bottleneck is testing that they work. To get even faster, we need innovations in clinical trial design."Original text:

"Cleaner indoor air can increase productivity, improve student outcomes, and prevent pandemics."Original text: https://ifp.org/indoor-air-quality/Author(s): Juan Ca...

"Vital workers must be protected against viral threats so that critical functions of society can continue during a global pandemic. Globally, COVID-19 revealed weaknesses in the PPE enterprise including production and distribution limitations, ...

This resource from 'Our World in Data' estimates the death tolls from the most devastating pandemics in history, with a particular focus on the 19th century onwards.Original text: