BlueDot Narrated

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

Historically, the complexity and unpredictability of biology has meant most scientific progress in this field has come from slow and expensive trial-and-error experiments. This post explores three areas that are turning biology from trial-and-error into a precise engineering discipline and unlocking dramatic progress; deep learning on biological data, laboratory automation, and precision DNA editing.

Original text: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/were-entering-a-golden-age-of-engineering

Author(s): Joshua March and Kasia Gora

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

There is a tension in the life sciences between scientific transparency and the need for secrecy to protect national or global security. This report introduces the term 'dual-use research of concern (DURC)' and covers debates from the last two decades over what information should be published.

Original text:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK458495/

Author(s): 
US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

This article introduces a range of strategies to reduce pandemic risk whilst drawing parallels to fire-fighting interventions. It argues that pandemic prevention, like fire-fighting, needs a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, early detection, and both passive and active protection. It underscores that proactive pandemic preparedness measures are significantly less costly, both in financial terms and lives lost, compared to reactive responses. It's worth highlighting the need for global cooperation to implement suggested interventions, given the rapid and borderless nature of pandemics.

Original text:
https://worksinprogress.co/issue/pandemic-prevention-as-fire-fighting

Author(s):
Richard Williamson

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

As synthetic biology techniques develop and the barriers to entry become lower, we are increasingly seeing the development of privately-operated biological labs. These often enforce less stringent safety standards than those in academia, and can fall through the cracks of regulatory oversight. This article focuses on a recent example in California, emphasising the need for a unified regulatory system and increased federal oversight for these labs, especially those working with dangerous pathogens.

Original text:
https://time.com/6309643/invisible-biolabs/

Author(s):
Dan Greene and Jassi Pannu and Allison Berke

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

This article proposes four key actions that can be taken to prevent outbreaks from zoonotic spillover: protecting tropical forests, regulating or banning live wildlife markets, improving biosecurity for farmed animals, and improving health and economic security, particularly in hotspots for disease emergence. For those digging deeper into zoonotic spillover for this week's exercise, you will find the original paper in the optional resources section.

Original text:
 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01312-y#:~:text=faces%20another%20pandemic.-,Four%20actions,-The%20risk%20of

Author(s): 
Neil M. Vora, Lee Hannah and Susan Lieberman et al.

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

The document highlights the need for national-level norms for biosafety, given that a laboratory accident with contagious pathogens could have global implications. Despite guidance for local and institutional biosafety practices, there are few international guidelines that standardise biosafety activities and oversight mechanisms from one research-producing nation to another.

Original text:
 https://www.cell.com/trends/microbiology/fulltext/S0966-842X(15)00228-0

Author(s):
 Gigi Kwik Gronvall and Michelle Rozo

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

This page gives a brief overview of the NIH's framework for guiding funding decisions on potentially risky research involving enhanced potential pandemic pathogens (ePPPs). Following the release of a report, 'Proposed Biosecurity Oversight Framework For The Future of Science' in early 2023, the US Government is reviewing the process for the oversight of ePPP research. This report and a response to it can be found in the optional resources section.

Original text:
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/research-involving-potential-pandemic-pathogens

Author(s):
National Institutes of Health

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

This Wikipedia article provides an overview of the Biological Weapons Convention, a disarmament treaty that bans the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological weapons. Despite 185 states being party to the treaty, there are substantial challenges including a lack of funding and difficulty verifying compliance.

Original text:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_Weapons_Convention

Author(s): 
Wikipedia

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

DNA synthesis represents the primary interface between the digital and physical worlds when it comes to synthetic biology - the point at which potentially hazardous information could become an actually dangerous piece of biological material. No national government legally mandates the screening of DNA synthesis orders, although members of the International Gene Synthesis Consortium voluntarily screen DNA synthesis orders and customers. This article briefly summarises the problem and recommends five potential policy areas for regulation.

Original text:
 https://ifp.org/preventing-the-misuse-of-dna-synthesis/

Author(s):
 Bridget Williams and Rowan Kane

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.

Audio versions of blogs and papers from BlueDot courses.

This resource provides a brief introduction to some of the most common terms used in infectious disease epidemiology.

Original text:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zUcRUXWFjIoRxx3wM35okua2hSLYaDW-lLboJa77tUg/edit#heading=h.rd77fsy9cdni

Author(s):
Joshua Blake

A podcast by BlueDot Impact.