Under a new partnership, the Defense Department would play a larger role in biodefense and pandemic preparedness. Democrats warned it could allow a Pentagon cash grab.
Newly uncovered documents show Anthony Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases collaborated closely with the CIA on sensitive “forensic microbiology” efforts, raising fresh questions about accountability and blurred lines between public health and intelligence. The Daily Caller News Foundation reports that an undated interagency agreement details how Fauci’s NIAID worked hand in glove […] The post Documents reveal Fauci’s NIAID quietly partnered with CIA on bioterror research appeared first on American Almanac .
Newly uncovered documents show Anthony Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases collaborated closely with the CIA on sensitive “forensic microbiology” efforts, raising fresh questions about accountability and blurred lines between public health and intelligence. The Daily Caller News Foundation reports that an undated interagency agreement details how Fauci’s NIAID worked hand in glove with the CIA’s Biological Technology Center on programs involving bioterrorism-linked germs and “forensic comparative analyses.” The CIA provided funding and helped NIAID obtain pathogens, while both agencies sought to develop a “robust forensic microbiology capability.” Data from the research could not be shared…Open
The CIA reportedly used funds to leverage pre-existing civilian research efforts in a way that would benefit both the CIA and NIH, and the unclassified research would be "used to augment and complement” CIA research and development.
‘might lower the technical, operational, and motivational barriers’
What's the common thread connecting AI advances, biological breakthroughs, a preponderance of high-risk-high-reward research, escalating geopolitical tensions and a hollowed-out U.S. public health sector? - They all heighten the risk that one day a lethal human-made pathogen will emerge, either accidentally or intentionally, and we won't be ready for it. Why it matters: The same advances that make this a pivotal moment for medical innovation are intensifying the risk of catastrophic lab mishaps, though how significant a risk is hotly debated by experts. - "It is a very small tweak from trying to target a disease, and making gene therapies to try to target a disease, to turning a virus into something that can be much more detrimental,"…
New viruses that can cause disease ‘should not be pursued,’ scientists say
A Stanford-led research team has used generative AI to design a synthetic virus — the first time artificial intelligence has been harnessed to create a organism that has never been seen in nature. Why it matters: What could go wrong? The big picture: It could be the first step toward the nightmare scenario AI experts have already warned about: deadly pathogens that can't be stopped, because they've been created too quickly for our current surveillance systems to stop them. - The research could also lead to medical breakthroughs, which is the hope of the research team that conducted the study. "The ability of genome language models to generate entire functional genomes has not been tested," they wrote. Driving the news: Researchers…
The State and Health and Human Services departments claim that although biomedical research has produced lifesaving vaccines and medical breakthroughs, it must never come at the expense of public safety or national security.