Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses. 

Original text: https://blog.bluedot.org/p/how-ai-could-enable-catastrophic-pandemics 

Author(s): Will Saunter. 

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses. 

Original text: https://thebulletin.org/2025/04/how-to-stop-bioterrorists-from-buying-dangerous-dna/ 

Author(s): Steph Batalis and Vikram Venkatram. 

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses. 

Original text: https://osp.od.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Risk%20and%20Benefit%20Analysis%20of%20Gain%20of%20Function%20Research%20-%20Draft%20Final%20Report.pdf 

Author(s): Corey Meyer, Kavita Berger, and Rocco Casagrande.

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses. 

Original text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK614029/ 

Author(s): Aishani Aatresh, Nicole Lurie, and Richard Hatchett. 

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

Original Text: https://press.asimov.com/articles/antivirals

Author(s): Brian Wang

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses. 

This introduction to the course underscores its focus on mitigating the risk of catastrophic pandemics, a specific aspect of the complex and multidisciplinary field of biosecurity. It clarifies various interpretations of 'biosecurity', categorises different sources of pandemic risk, and underscores the need for collaboration across numerous disciplines and skill sets to effectively prevent pandemics. We also highlight the core values of the course - a scout mindset, healthy scepticism, active learning and community.

Original text:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1niZllKaLbYhVvA2ls9c5pVxgJyJfXr_IiU1XYaf9jCM/edit?usp=sharing

Author(s): 
Will Saunter

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of the blog posts and papers from BlueDot courses. 

This table documents the known human-caused pathogen exposure events from 1975-2016, both accidental and deliberate, from peaceful research and bioweapons programmes. Using this data, we can start to build an idea of the base rate of these events to begin to inform how likely we might expect human-caused pandemics to be in the future.

Original text:
 https://f1000research.com/articles/10-752

Author(s):
 David Manheim and Gregory Lewis

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses. 

This document introduces the concept of information hazards (often called 'info hazards') and reasoning for why we should be cautious around them. It also provides a list of concrete examples that seem safe to discuss, stressing the importance of maintaining a balance between openness and conscientiousness. It's worth noting that reasonable people disagree about the degree of caution with which to approach info hazards. 

Original text:
 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d8269g3b-_GeNAPwxGZ8vqWuCzw7F1a5dwHdrxXH4xw/edit?usp=sharing

Author(s):
 Chris Bakerlee and Tessa Alexanian

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses. 

This report breaks down the categorisation of LLMs and BDTs into more specific subcategories of AI-enabled biological tools at each stage of the risk chain, from ideation to production of biological weapons. By being more specific about the existing and potential tools at each stage, we can have more precise discussions about the risks.

Original text:
https://www.longtermresilience.org/post/report-launch-examining-risks-at-the-intersection-of-ai-and-bio

Author(s): 
Cassidy Nelson and Sophie Rose

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

This paper proposes two categories of AI models that could have impacts on biosecurity in different ways: large language models (LLMs) and biological design tools (BDTs). Overall, the author suggests that LLMs could lower barriers to biological misuse, while BDTs could expand the capabilities of sophisticated actors to create pandemic pathogens worse than anything seen to date. The paper also provides suggestions for mitigating these risks.

Original text:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.13952

Author(s):
Jonas B. Sandbrink

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.