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

The research was successful, and a weakened form of H5N1 that was ferret-to-ferret transmissible was created – something the wild virus was not capable of doing. This type of research is often referred to as gain of function, although the term is imprecise, as deliberately manipulating biological entities to give them new properties can be totally... See more