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The biosecurity benefits of genetic engineering attribution.

Gregory LewisJacob L JordanDavid A RelmanGregory D KoblentzJade LeungAllan DafoeCassidy NelsonGerald L EpsteinRebecca KatzMichael MontagueEthan C AlleyClaire Marie FiloneStephen LubyGeorge M ChurchPiers MillettKevin M EsveltElizabeth E CameronThomas V Inglesby
Published in: Nature communications (2020)
Biology can be misused, and the risk of this causing widespread harm increases in step with the rapid march of technological progress. A key security challenge involves attribution: determining, in the wake of a human-caused biological event, who was responsible. Recent scientific developments have demonstrated a capability for detecting whether an organism involved in such an event has been genetically modified and, if modified, to infer from its genetic sequence its likely lab of origin. We believe this technique could be developed into powerful forensic tools to aid the attribution of outbreaks caused by genetically engineered pathogens, and thus protect against the potential misuse of synthetic biology.
Keyphrases
  • endothelial cells
  • genome wide
  • copy number
  • chronic pain
  • induced pluripotent stem cells
  • gram negative
  • dna methylation
  • public health
  • global health