We analyze trends to help government and society harness biotechnology’s potential to promote health and new industries, as well as understand the potential for its misuse. It includes examination of the biotechnology workforce, infrastructure and funding that supports biotechnology research. Research topics include biological safety infrastructure and regulations, global biosecurity policies, genome editing techniques and the use of AI in biological discovery.

Data Brief

The Antimicrobial Resistance Research Landscape and Emerging Solutions

Vikram Venkatram Katherine Quinn

| November 2023

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the world’s most pressing global health threats. Basic research is the first step towards identifying solutions. This brief examines the AMR research landscape since 2000, finding that the amount of research is increasing and that the U.S. is a leading publisher, but also that...

Formal Response

Comment on OSTP RFI 88 FR 60513

Steph Batalis

| October 16, 2023

CSET submitted the following comment in response to a Request for Information (RFI) from the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy about potential changes to the Policies for Federal and Institutional Oversight of Life Sciences Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC) and Recommended Policy Guidance for Departmental Development...

Analysis

Understanding the Global Gain-of-Function Research Landscape

Caroline Schuerger Steph Batalis Katherine Quinn Ronnie Kinoshita Owen Daniels Anna Puglisi

| August 2023

Gain- and loss-of-function research have contributed to breakthroughs in vaccine development, genetic research, and gene therapy. At the same time, a subset of gain- and loss-of-function studies involve high-risk, highly virulent pathogens that could spread widely among humans if deliberately or unintentionally released. In this report, we map the gain-...

Breaking Down the Biden AI EO: Screening DNA Synthesis and Biorisk

Steph Batalis Vikram Venkatram

| November 16, 2023

The recent Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence will have major implications for biotechnology. The EO demonstrates that the White House considers biorisk a major concern for AI safety and security. In this blog post CSET’s bio experts...

Breaking Down the Biden AI EO: Ensuring Safe and Secure AI

Tessa Baker

| November 15, 2023

There’s a lot to digest in the October 30 White House’s AI Executive Order. Our tracker is a useful starting point to identify key provisions and monitor the government’s progress against specific milestones, but grappling with the substance is an entirely different matter. This blog post, focusing on Section...

Can Chatbots Help You Build a Bioweapon?

Steph Batalis

| November 5, 2023

In an op-ed published in Foreign Policy, CSET’s Steph Batalis discusses the potential misuse of artificial intelligence chatbots in providing instructions for the construction of biological weapons.

Anna Puglisi

Senior Fellow

Katherine Quinn

Data Scientist

Steph Batalis

Research Fellow

Vikram Venkatram

Research Analyst

In a Washington Post article that delves into China's extensive efforts to collect genetic data from around the world, using innovative technology, CSET's Anna Puglisi provided her expert insights.

CSET's Anna Puglisi was featured in a Nature article along with a report she co-authored. The article discusses the challenges faced by US policymakers in regulating research involving potentially harmful pathogens. The focal point of the discussion is the CSET report titled “Understanding the Global Gain-of-Function Research Landscape.”

CSET Director of Biotechnology Programs and Senior Fellow Anna Puglisi provided insights into China's illicit efforts to acquire genetic data from the United States in Politico's Morning Cybersecurity. She pointed out that such data will serve a wide variety of interests, from health care to agriculture. “It’s enablers like sequencing and other tools of discovery that are going to drive the bioeconomy, that are going to drive precision medicine,” she said. “The more data you have, the more you can start to understand what genes do.”