Tessa Alexanian

A full writeup of this episode, including references and a transcript, is available on our website: hearthisidea.com/episodes/alexanian-ahuja Tessa Alexanian is the Safety & Security Program Officer at the iGEM Foundation, which organises a worldwide competition in synthetic biology and helps foster a collaborative community. She is a fellow at the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative, was previously a fellow at the Foresight Institute, and co-founded the East Bay Biosecurity Group. Janvi Ahuja is a PhD student in computational biology at the University of Oxford, where she is affiliated with the Future of Humanity Institute and works with MIT’s Nucleic Acid Observatory on metagenomic sequencing. Janvi is also a fellow at the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative, and was previously an intern at the UN’s Biological Weapons Convention ISU We discuss: How synthetic biology began and why it is an exploding field The iGEM competition and how to get involved in the community Challenges and trade-offs in creating a culture of responsibility in synthetic biology Emerging risks in synthetic biology and what this means for global catastrophic risks Technical projects in biosecurity and career advice for how to get involved If you have any feedback, you can get a free book for filling out our new feedback form. You can also get in touch through our website or on Twitter. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. Thanks for listening!

Todd Humphreys, a space radio communications expert, reveals the intriguing possibility of a mysterious satellite disrupting GPS signals in Europe, suggesting an accidental source, not necessarily malevolent. Liana Zanette, a behavioral ecologist, shares eye-opening findings about wolves' fear of humans, showcasing how their behavior shifts in response to human sounds. Meanwhile, Tessa Alexanian discusses AI-designed DNA's potential dangers, emphasizing biosecurity challenges in detecting harmful protein sequences, highlighting an urgent need for better screening methods.

Microsoft’s Eric Horvitz and guests Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian, and James Diggans discuss the Paraphrase Project—a red-teaming effort that exposed and secured a biosecurity vulnerability in AI-driven protein design. The work offers a model for addressing AI’s dual-use risks.Show notes