That means that in principle, humanity could crowdsource threat identification. Instead of warning the world about a new threat, scientists who are very concerned about a particular way that biology could be used to cause harm could contact a curator of the secure DNA system and say, “I’m really worried about this.” If the curator agrees, they can... See more

A group of roughly 140 scientists (as well as lawyers and physicians) met at The Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA in February 1975 to draft voluntary guidelines for research on recombinant DNA. The meeting set stringent standards to ensure research on recombinant DNA could proceed without endangering public health

Abstraction should become core to the way we speak biology, in particular outside of the confines of academia. How can you wonder at the marvel of biology if all you hear is “envelope capsid design”? We need to carefully survey how we present our ideas to the public, such that they can marvel and wonder at the beauty of what we have built.