entertainment -WSS

entertainment

author：Wikipedia 2025-09-27 12:58:29 - browse：67316

If you ask a chatbot how to cause a pandemic, it will suggest the 1918 influenza virus, according to researcher Kevin Esvelt. It will even tell you where to find the gene sequences online and where to purchase the genetic components.

Esvelt is a biologist and MIT professor whose work has included altering the genes of mice to prevent the spread of Lyme disease. In a recent First Opinion essay, he wrote about how easy and inexpensive it has become to order genetic components that could be used to create harmful pathogens or toxins and how the biotech industry and government agencies must strengthen safety precautions to prevent this.

Esvelt sat down with host Pat Skerrett to chat about the amazing things genetic technology can accomplish when used correctly, as well as the dangers of such technology in the hands of someone with bad intentions.

“We’re trying to do biotech to accomplish amazing things and heal people,” Esvelt said. “You don’t want to think about the same tools being misused and, to most scientists, this doesn’t come naturally.”

Be sure to sign up for the weekly “First Opinion Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. And don’t forget to sign up for the First Opinion newsletter to read each week’s best First Opinion essays.

Newsletters

Sign up for First Opinion Podcast

Weekly alerts when a new episode drops from STAT’s First Opinion podcast

Please enter a valid email address. Privacy Policy

Previous article： How to save PrEP access — and even expand it
Next article： Private equity could exacerbate cardiology's overuse problem, experts fear

hotspot

focus

WSS

IRA could hurt research into orphan drugs for rare diseases

Private equity could exacerbate cardiology's overuse problem, experts fear

As pharma fights Medicare drug negotiation, hospitals, docs silent

What do new weight loss drugs mean for bariatric surgery?

Nick Leschly quits Bluebird Bio spinout amid restructuring, layoffs

CDC advisory panel says seniors 'may' get RSV vaccine

hotspot

entertainment

Sign up for First Opinion Podcast

hotspot

Drug repurposing or repositioning? The language matters

Complete sequence of Y chromosome published for first time

In Memoriam: Notable people who died in 2023

Food makers tried to stack nutrition panel with preferred experts

ChatGPT in medicine: STAT answers readers' burning questions

Generate Biomedicines machine learning biotech raises $273M

BioMarin wins approval for gene therapy to treat hemophilia A

Listen: Covid's latest surge, Alnylam at the FDA, & the end of an era

George Santos makes 1st court appearance after pleading not guilty to 13 counts

AstraZeneca bets AAV gene therapy will still deliver the goods

Wikipedia

In science, is the line between industry and academia shifting?

Complete sequence of Y chromosome published for first time

Long Covid needs a new name — and a new frame

Why more medical students aren't specializing in primary care

Pig kidney works a record two months in donated body

Food makers tried to stack nutrition panel with preferred experts

hotspot

focus

Wikipedia

focus