On Thursday, 38 prominent biologists issued a dire warning: Within a few decades, scientists will be able create a microbe that could cause an unstoppable pandemic, devastating crop losses or the collapse of entire ecosystems.
The scientists called for a ban on research that could lead to synthesis of such an organism.
Carl Zimmer
More articles
Jan
24
2025
‘Unprecedented risk’ to life on Earth: Scientists call for halt on ‘mirror life’ microbe research
by Ian Sample in The Guardian…Experts warn that mirror bacteria, constructed from mirror images of molecules found in nature, could put humans, animals and plants...
Nov
12
2024
Malaria Is Surging in Ethiopia, Reversing a Decade of Progress Against the Disease
by Maya Misikir and Stephanie Nolen in The New York Times…Climate change, civil conflict and growing resistance to insecticides and treatments are all...
Aug
29
2024
On the Covid ‘off-ramp’: no tests, isolation or masks
By Emily Baumgaertner in The New York Times…For many, Covid is increasingly regarded like the common cold. A scratchy throat and canceled plans bring a...
Aug
29
2024
Top 6 questions answered about fall vaccines
By Katelyn Jetelina, Your Local Epidemiologist…The bottom line is: Get your fall vaccines—it will cut your risk of diseases by half.
Aug
22
2024
WHO leader and Wuhan Institute of Virology collaborator clashed in ‘ugly’ meeting
by Emily Kopp in US Right to Know…Tedros told the lawmakers then that “understanding the origin of COVID is a scientific and moral obligation, and it requires...
Aug
16
2024
We now have a chance to stop the most deadly infectious disease — if we act
by Atwal Gawande in The New York Times…In a place with one of the highest TB rates on Earth, I saw that the disease could be stopped with the new tools available....
Aug
16
2024
W.H.O. declares global emergency over new Mpox outbreak
by Apoorva Mandavilli in The New York Times….The epidemic is concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the virus has now appeared in a dozen other...
Aug
10
2024
About 400 million people worldwide have had Long Covid, researchers say
by Pam Belluck in The New York Times…The condition has put significant strain on patients and society — at a global economic cost of about $1 trillion a year, a...
Aug
10
2024
Animal apocalypse: Deadly bird flu infects hundreds of species pole-to-pole
by Sharon Guynup in Mongabay…The threat posed by H5N1 extends far beyond the frozen South. Few people realize that the world is currently gripped in another...
Aug
10
2024
Americans’ struggle with mental health
by Ellen Barry in The New York Times…We explore why rates of anxiety and depression are higher than they were before the pandemic.