Biosecurity

Biosecurity has become central to biotechnology governance with the post-COVID policy attention. The session covers dual-use research of concern (DURC) frameworks, synthetic biology screening including DNA-synthesis order screening, pandemic preparedness through 100 Days Mission and the Biological Weapons Convention, lab biosafety and BSL-3/4 oversight, AI risks in biology (the AI-bioweapon vulnerability research), and international biosecurity frameworks post-COVID. Discussion addresses the gain-of-function research debate, biosurveillance through wastewater and metagenomics, biosecurity capacity-building in LMICs, the One Health surveillance framework integrating human, animal and environmental data, and emerging biothreat horizon scanning.