Inglesby: "It's incumbent on the United States and other countries to be prepared for whatever comes from biology, whether it's from nature or from engineering or a laboratory accident"
As COVID turns 3, experts worry where next pandemic will come from
usatoday.com
As COVID turns 3, experts worry where next pandemic will come from
usatoday.com
"The idea of engineering a deadly pathogen that sickens the world sounds like the stuff of science fiction or superhero movies. But it's no longer a fantasy.'
"Kevin Esvelt,..MIT biologist, said people in his..lab could..assemble a dangerous virus from DNA ordered on..internet for under $1,000. Once pandemic-capable viruses are identified, thousands of people worldwide have the..training to make them from mail-ordered synthetic DNA."
"Esvelt warned Congress earlier this year that pandemic virus identification would make pandemics widely accessible and recently released a 30-page plan preparing for a world in which it's feasible to unleash one."
"The risk is real and growing over time as engineering biology becomes easier, agreed Jaime Yassif, vice president of the Nuclear Threat Initiative's Global Biological Policy and Programs."
"COVID-19 made the threat more real..by showing how much chaos a..pandemic can sow. 'It's reasonable to assume that the intentions are already there and..growing and that capabilities are increasingly within reach. That's my rational calculus about why I take it seriously.'"
"One question is how much regulation should be imposed on scientific work and researchers involved in synthesizing potential pathogens."
"Yassif supports 'more rules of the road' to safeguard the scientific advances that might be misused by bad actors..'The systems we have in place are not as broad in scope or as robust as they need to be'"
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