Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

From naturally occurring disease threats to the deliberate creation of biological weapons, the field of biosecurity encompasses a broad swath of life science research and the associated risks.

Canada's recent biosecurity partnership with Kyrgyzstan could create a new model for preventing brain drain, showing it has learned a lot from the Cooperative Threat Reduction program–both good and bad.

The BWC needs to return to its core business: preventing state-level bioweapon programs. Enhancing the regime toward this end will also hinder the trickle down of bioweapon technologies to sub-state actors and individuals.

Biotechnology–and aerosol delivery specifically–is beginning to blur the line between solutions and threats. Could a cure for diabetes and a dangerous pathogen be delivered in the same way? Such a scenario isn't far off.

The fields of genetic sequencing and synthetic biology have a tried-and-true supporter in Harvard geneticist George Church. While recognizing the potential for misuse in any discipline, from biology to calculus, it is clear to him that the benefits outweigh the risks.

Voluntary standards in the synthetic biology industry point a way forward to controlling many emerging and potentially dangerous technologies, even as they become easier to acquire than ever before and traditional government controls and treaties become less effective.

As more and more diseases are discovered to be of animal origin and the effects of climate change on disease become clearer, now is the time to examine how best to mobilize health professionals, policy makers, and security experts around these connections.

Egypt, Israel, and Syria have yet to fully embrace the Chemical Weapons Convention, but movement is possible. Breaking this impasse would be a powerful move toward a universal ban on chemical weapons.

These seminal works have defined the discipline, challenged conventional thinking, and expanded scientists' and policy makers' understanding of the interaction between the life sciences and international security.

With or without a follow-on agreement to START, the number of warheads in the Russian nuclear arsenal continues to shrink. But that doesn't mean Moscow has given up modernizing its strategic nuclear forces.