#biosecurity

All articles tagged with "biosecurity"

Mirror life: Scientists clash over threat of lab-engineered bacteria

Mirror-life debate intensifies as study questions survival of synthetic microbes

A modeling study suggests mirror-life organisms would struggle to survive outside the lab, but other scientists warn that the risks may still be profound.

Key Takeaways

Modeling suggests mirror-life organisms would need specialized nutrients to survive.
Scientists remain divided over whether ecological limits meaningfully reduce the risk.

DT Editorial Team·May 30, 2026·via newscientist.com

OpenAI puts GPT-5.5 biology safeguards to a live stress test with a new bug bounty

OpenAI is offering up to $25,000 for a universal jailbreak that defeats a five-question biology safety challenge in GPT-5.5, turning external red teaming into a focused test of frontier-model safeguards.

Key Takeaways

OpenAI is offering $25,000 for the first universal jailbreak that clears all five bio safety questions.
The program applies to GPT-5.5 in Codex Desktop only.

DT Editorial Team·Apr 25, 2026·via openai.com

Synthetic Biology’s ‘Mirror Life’ Dream Has Turned Into a Debate About Catastrophic Risk

Researchers once saw mirror-image microbes as a frontier science project with major medical potential. Now some of the same scientists warn that the technology could pose existential biological risks.

Key Takeaways

Researchers initially saw mirror microbes as a path to major scientific and medical advances.
By 2024, some of the same scientists warned the organisms could evade natural predators and immune defenses.

DT Editorial Team·Apr 15, 2026·via technologyreview.com

Wildlife Trade Emerges as a Long-Arc Driver of Spillover Risk

A new Science paper points to wildlife trade as a driver of animal-to-human pathogen transmission across four decades, sharpening the policy case for treating commerce, conservation, and public health as one connected防线.

DT Editorial Team·Apr 10, 2026·via science.org