A Framework for Tomorrow’s Pathogen Research Final Report Chairs Ravindra Gupta Ameenah Gurib-Fakim Shahid Jameel David Relman Directors Jesse Bloom Filippa Lentzos February 2024 Introduction Reasons for hope Reasons for caution Ethical obligations Research Governance Trust-building Recommendations References Amman, B.R., C.G. Albariño, B H. Bird, L. Nyakarahuka, T.K. Sealy, S. Balinandi, A.J. Schuh et al. … Continued

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is a biopic disguised as an action thriller, or the other way around. By the time the movie gets to the Manhattan Project, everyone watching the movie is already part of the race to build the Bomb.

On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the first atomic bomb test, a spy thriller explores the ethical dilemmas faced by scientists splitting the atom in Nazi Germany and New Mexico.

A dusty US-Soviet agreement—little noticed when signed and largely forgotten since—has real potential amid today’s unpromising arms control environment to reduce the risk of nuclear war.

The viewers of 'Oppenheimer' might walk out of theaters with a lot of blind spots, an arms control expert writes.

Often untold, Oppenheimer’s legacy of promoting tactical use of nuclear weapons resonates in today’s Ukraine.

If one scientist out of 100 decides to pursue biotechnology research that ought to be left alone, the consequences—theoretically—could be unconscionable. Is that what has happened with horsepox synthesis?

Scientific zeal blinded German physicists to the ethics of working for the Nazis. While research projects today are less fraught, the German scientists’ story bears on decisions facing those who now work to advance nuclear modernization, artificial intelligence, and synthetic biology.

Fourteen facilities now create and research airborne-transmissible potential pandemic viruses. The risk that a virus from one of these facilities sparks a pandemic is far too high.

Nick Lemann’s most recent piece in the New Yorker, “John Hersey and the Art of Fact,” is in some sense a review of Jeremy Treglown’s new book on Hersey, “Mr. Straight Arrow.” But Lemann is certainly after (and achieves) more than one generally expects from a book review.

Policy makers seem to conflate nuclear weapons’ symbolic meaning with their utility as weapons, and that has made it harder to abolish them.

El callejón sin salida nuclear de Corea del Norte no podrá resolverse mientras la desnuclearización se considere la única solución aceptable. No hay duda de que quienes proponen sanciones y presión seguirán difundiendo sus argumentos durante los próximos años, e incluso décadas. Lo mismo harán quienes creen en una solución diplomática «al estilo de Irán». … Continued

Virtual Tour: Turn Back the Clock “] Working in secrecy and in great haste, an army of men and women raced to build the world’s first atomic bomb in the midst of World War II. The code name for their clandestine military assignment: the Manhattan Project. While most Manhattan Project scientists fully embraced the mission … Continued

Something more than journalism, something that approaches … poetry.