The Center for International Security and Cooperation is a center of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Bioterrorism
Scholarly Publications
On Defining Global Catastrophic Biological Risks
July 2017
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security has formulated an encompassing working definition of global catastrophic biological risks (GCBRs) that reflects diverse sources of risk and mechanisms...
How likely is it that biological agents will be used deliberately to cause widespread harm?
December 2015
The fact that biological weapons have never been used—at least in recent history—is not sufficient reason to dismiss concerns that terrorists or nations could acquire and use dangerous pathogens as...
New Game, New Rules: Limiting the Risks of Biological Engineering
September 2015
In an article published by the Council on Foreign Relations' Foreign Affairs magazine, David Relman and Marc Lipsitch examine recent advances in biological engineering as well as lapses in...
Other Publications
Hacking the President’s DNA
November 2012
Abstract The U.S. government is surreptitiously collecting the DNA of world leaders, and is reportedly protecting that of Barack Obama.
Russia's Poison Gases
October 2002
STANFORD, Calif.— More than 100 hostages are dead after Russian authorities used an unidentified gas to incapacitate terrorists holding 750 people in a Moscow theater.
News
Encouraging future leaders in biosecurity
September 2016
Biosecurity leaders gathered at Stanford this week to offer new ideas and perspectives on a wide range of issues critical to societal health.The conference, “Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity,” began...
U.S. Needs a New Approach for Governance of Risky Research
December 2015
The United States needs better oversight of risky biological research to reduce the likelihood of a bioengineered super virus escaping from the lab or being deliberately unleashed, according three...
Containing the Risks of Bioengineered Super Viruses
September 2015
Genetically engineered viruses could open up a Pandora's box of biosecurity threats. CISAC co-director David Relman explains how we can keep a lid on it.
Events
Biological threats: why the US is 'dangerously vulnerable'
September 27, 2017
Abstract: The threat of biological catastrophes-- stemming from natural, accidental or intentional causes-- looms ever larger as populations urbanize, global temperatures rise, and the access to...
Evolving perspectives on risk in biology and the life sciences
September 27, 2017
Abstract: Against a backdrop of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases of natural origin, fueled by changes in land use and global climate, there is an ongoing revolution in the life sciences...
Biotechnology and Security: Are We Prepared?
April 12, 2016
Abstract: Biotechnology is rapidly diffusing globally.
People
