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Highlights: #164 – Kevin Esvelt on cults that want to kill everyone, stealth vs wildfire pandemics, and how he felt inventing gene drives
Oct 30, 2023
Kevin Esvelt, researcher on gene drives and pandemic prevention, discusses the risks of biological weapons, motives behind people wanting to kill everyone, predictions of biotechnology misuse, evolutionary tradeoff in pandemics, and the need for reliable monitoring to detect genetic engineering threats.
27:14
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Quick takeaways
- Mass-producing and dispersing traditional biological weapons like anthrax faces numerous challenges, making it a less significant concern.
- The risk posed by pandemic viruses requires vigilance, monitoring, and early detection to anticipate and prevent global harm.
Deep dives
Risks from biological weapons are complex
The difficulty in mass-producing and dispersing anthrax, a traditional biological weapon, is discussed. The process requires large-scale fermenters and faces challenges in purity, aerosolization, and dispersion. The speaker suggests that while this type of threat still exists, it doesn't meet the minimum threshold for significant concern.
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