Gene Gene Synthesis

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After publication of the geno sequence, what they may not have anticipated was just how cheap synthetic diana would become. We've gone from a hundred labs that could create this, more or less immediately after it was published to somewhere between 20 and 50 thousand people right now. Even if you assign a very small chance that someone would and a small chance that it would actually cause a pendemic, the numbers don't look good when you calculate it from that perspective.

In this episode of the podcast, Rob Reid and Kevin Esvelt discuss USAID’s new “Deep VZN” program, which aims to discover new pandemic-grade viruses and publish their genomes to the world. Esvelt estimates that there are currently around 30,000 people who could then easily build them.

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Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.