#51 – Kevin Esvelt and Jonas Sandbrink on Risks from Biological Research

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Aug 13, 2022

Jonas Sandbrink

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Canoa Delaying Until We Can Delay?

What Kind of Interventions Should We Put in Place for Preventing Pendemics?

What Can We Learn From Covid?

Is Identifying a Pendemic Capable Varis Helpful in Preventing Natural Pendemies?

Identifying Pendemicapl Varses in the Wilds

Is There a Risk of Misuse in the Development of Novel Pendemic Light Agents?

How Loudly Should You Be Raising Alarms?

Delay, Detect, Defend.

Do You Really Need Background Checks for Accessing Genome Sequences?

Is There a Security Inna Project?

Algarythmic Screening Process That Doesn't Throw Up False Alarms

The Incentives in Gene Synthesis

Is There a System in Place to Screen for Potential Catastrophes?

I'm Mainly Worried About for Profet Screening, but I Don't Think That's a Good Approach

How Can We Reduce Risks in Biotechnology?

Is There a Funding Review?

The Challenge of Detection of Biological Threats

Expedential Growth

01:00:47 • 2min

Is There a Pathegan Infection Worth Worrying About?

01:03:01 • 5min

Is It a Cabi Theris That the N State Is Not Going to Apply?

01:07:59 • 3min

Vaccines and Vaccinations - What's the Star of Covin?

01:10:42 • 4min

Pan Chronovirus Vaccines

01:14:15 • 3min

Non-Phemoceutical Interventions - How Can They Work?

01:16:49 • 3min

Stockpiling a Measles Pendemic

01:19:37 • 5min

How Do You Get People to Put on the Pip?

01:24:21 • 4min

Is There a Way to Leverage Multi Cellularity?

01:28:16 • 2min

Radiation Kills Microbes, but Not Us

01:29:49 • 6min

01:35:38 • 3min

Defending Against a Pandemic

01:38:45 • 4min

Is There a Way to Prevent Biological Risks?

01:42:30 • 2min

Do We Secure Iti Science or Do We Keep It Completely Open?

01:44:25 • 3min

What Are Your Thoughts About Nuclear Weapons?

01:47:29 • 3min

Are There Any Initiatives in This Direction?

01:50:47 • 3min

Is It a Good Idea to Use Feedback Loops?

01:53:43 • 2min

A by Richard Rodes Is a Good Book

01:55:26 • 2min

How Can I Help You Prepare for Pandemics

01:57:03 • 2min

A full writeup of this episode is available on our website: hearthisidea.com/episodes/esvelt-sandbrink.

Kevin Esvelt is an assistant professor at the MIT Media Lab, where he is director of the Sculpting Evolution group, which invents new ways to study and influence the evolution of ecosystems. He helped found the SecureDNA Project and the Nucleic Acid Observatory, both of which we discuss in the episode. Esvelt is also known for proposing the idea of using CRISPR to implement gene drives.

Jonas Sandbrink is a researcher and DPhil student at the Future of Humanity Institute. He is a fellow at both the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, and with the Ending Bioweapons Program at the Council on Strategic Risks. Jonas’ research interests include the dual-use potential of life sciences research and biotechnology, as well as fast response countermeasures like vaccine platforms.

We discuss:

The concepts of differential technological development, dual-use research, transfer risks in research, 'information loops', and responsible access to biological data
Strengthening norms against risky biological research, such as novel virus identification and gain of function research
Connection-based warning systems and metagenomic sequencing technology
Advanced PPE, Far-UVC sterilisation technology, and other countermeasures against pandemics potentially worse than Covid
Analogies between progress in biotechnology and the early history of nuclear weapons
How to use your career to work on these problems — even if you don’t have a background in biology.

You can read more about the topics we cover in this episode's write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/farmer.

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