Appendix D — Further Reading and Resources
A curated collection of resources for further exploration of biosecurity topics.
Essential Books
Foundational Texts
Koblentz, G. D. (2009). Living Weapons: Biological Warfare and International Security. Cornell University Press. - Comprehensive analysis of biological weapons as a security threat.
Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological Weapons: From the Invention of State-Sponsored Programs to Contemporary Bioterrorism. Columbia University Press. - Historical overview of state bioweapons programs.
Alibek, K. & Handelman, S. (1999). Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World. Random House. - First-hand account of the Soviet Biopreparat program.
Tucker, J. B. (2012). Innovation, Dual Use, and Security: Managing the Risks of Emerging Biological and Chemical Technologies. MIT Press. - Analysis of dual-use challenges in emerging technologies.
AI and Emerging Risks
Hendrycks, D. (2024). Introduction to AI Safety, Ethics, and Society. CRC Press. Open access at aisafetybook.com. - Comprehensive textbook covering catastrophic AI risks (including bioterrorism), safety engineering, complex systems, machine ethics, and AI governance. Endorsed by Yoshua Bengio and widely adopted for graduate AI safety education.
Russell, S. (2019). Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control. Viking. - Foundational text on AI safety.
Amodei, D. et al. Various Anthropic research papers on AI safety and responsible scaling.
Pandemic Preparedness
Osterholm, M. T. & Olshaker, M. (2017). Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs. Little, Brown and Company. - Expert perspective on pandemic threats.
Quammen, D. (2012). Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic. W. W. Norton. - Accessible exploration of zoonotic disease emergence.
Key Reports and Policy Documents
Government
CDC Bioterrorism Agents/Diseases - Official CDC categorization of biological threat agents.
CDC BMBL (Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories) - The definitive U.S. biosafety reference.
OSTP Framework for Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening (2024) - U.S. policy framework for DNA synthesis screening, developed in response to AI Executive Order 14110.
P3CO Policy - Potential Pandemic Pathogen Care and Oversight framework.
International Organizations
WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual (4th Edition) - Global biosafety guidance.
BWC Implementation Support Unit - Treaty texts and implementation resources.
International Health Regulations (2005) - Legal framework for global health security.
Think Tank Reports
RAND: The Operational Risks of AI in Large-Scale Biological Attacks (2024) - Comprehensive AI-bio risk assessment.
RAND: Protecting Biological Materials from Misuse (2025) - Supply chain chokepoints and access monitoring.
RAND: Mitigating AI-CBW Risks (2025) - DHS-commissioned assessment of AI and biological/chemical weapons.
RAND: Theoretical Limits of AI-Enabled Pathogen Design (2025) - Expert Delphi study on AI barriers and capabilities.
RAND: Securing Commercial Nucleic Acid Synthesis (2024) - Comprehensive screening policy recommendations.
RAND: Global Risk Index for AI-enabled Biological Tools (2025) - Risk assessment framework for AI-bio tools.
RAND: Developing a Risk-Scoring Tool for AI-Enabled Biological Design (2026) - Dual-component scoring method pairing viral capability-modification risk with actor capability assessment.
NTI Global Health Security Index - Country-level pandemic preparedness benchmarking.
Johns Hopkins CHS: Centerpiece Reports - Various biosecurity policy analyses.
Key Organizations
Government Agencies
| Organization | Focus | Website |
|---|---|---|
| CDC | Disease surveillance, biosafety | cdc.gov |
| BARDA | Medical countermeasure development | medicalcountermeasures.gov/barda |
| IARPA | Advanced research including biosurveillance | iarpa.gov |
| USAMRIID | Military biodefense research | usamriid.health.mil |
| Select Agent Program | Pathogen regulation | selectagents.gov |
International
| Organization | Focus | Website |
|---|---|---|
| WHO | Global health security | who.int |
| FAO | Animal and plant health | fao.org |
| WOAH (OIE) | Animal health standards | woah.org |
| OPCW | Chemical weapons (overlap) | opcw.org |
Think Tanks and NGOs
| Organization | Focus | Website |
|---|---|---|
| NTI | Nuclear and biological threat reduction | nti.org |
| Johns Hopkins CHS | Health security policy | centerforhealthsecurity.org |
| RAND | Policy research | rand.org |
| RAND Meselson Center | Biosecurity research | rand.org/meselson |
| CSIS | Security studies | csis.org |
| CEPI | Epidemic preparedness | cepi.net |
| CAIS | AI catastrophic risk research, WMDP benchmark | safe.ai |
| CLTR | AI-bio risk assessment, policy | longtermresilience.org |
| RAISE Consortium | Responsible AI for healthcare ethics | Harvard DBMI |
RAISE (Responsible AI for Social and Ethical Healthcare): A multi-institutional collaboration (Harvard Medical School, MaineHealth, Roux Institute at Northeastern) focused on ethical frameworks for clinical AI. The initiative produced guiding principles published simultaneously in Nature Medicine and NEJM AI in February 2024 (Goldberg et al., Nature Medicine, 2024).
AI Labs with Biosecurity Programs
| Organization | Focus | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Frontier Red Team, biosecurity evaluations | anthropic.com |
| OpenAI | Preparedness Framework | openai.com |
| Google DeepMind | AI safety research | deepmind.google |
Academic Programs and Training
Graduate Programs
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - Health security concentration
- Georgetown University - Center for Global Health Science and Security
- MIT - Synthetic biology research with policy dimensions
- Stanford CISAC - Biosecurity within security studies
Courses
- Center for AI Safety: Introduction to AI Safety, Ethics, and Society - Free virtual course covering catastrophic AI risks (including biological threats), safety engineering, complex systems, and governance. Based on Hendrycks (2024). Recurring cohorts.
Fellowships
| Fellowship | Organization | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| ELBI | Johns Hopkins CHS | Mid-career biosecurity leaders |
| Emerging Leaders Program | NTI | Nuclear and biological security |
| Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness | Coefficient Giving | Research and career development |
Surveillance and Data Platforms
| Platform | Purpose | Website |
|---|---|---|
| GISAID | Pathogen genomic data sharing | gisaid.org |
| ProMED | Outbreak reporting | promedmail.org |
| NCBI GenBank | Genetic sequence database | ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
| Nextstrain | Pathogen evolution tracking | nextstrain.org |
| Our World in Data | Pandemic data visualization | ourworldindata.org |
Journals
Primary Biosecurity Journals
- Health Security - Dedicated biosecurity and health security journal
- Biosecurity and Bioterrorism - Historical biosecurity literature
Relevant General Journals
- The Lancet - Global health including outbreak coverage
- Nature - Biotechnology and life sciences
- Science - Dual-use research and policy
- EMBO Reports - Synthetic biology and biosecurity
- PNAS - Broad science including biosecurity-relevant research
Online Resources
News and Analysis
- CIDRAP - Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
- Stat News - Health and medicine journalism
- The Scientist - Life sciences news
Databases and Tools
- ICTV - International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
- ViralZone - Comprehensive virus resource
- PDB (Protein Data Bank) - Protein structure database
- HHS AI Use Case Inventory - Searchable catalog of AI applications across U.S. health agencies (CDC, FDA, NIH); 271 use cases as of 2024
Podcasts and Media
- 80,000 Hours Podcast - Episodes on biosecurity and existential risk
- This Week in Virology - Virology discussions
Community and Networking
Conferences
- BWC Review Conferences - Every 5 years in Geneva
- ASM (American Society for Microbiology) - Annual meetings
- Biosecurity Central Events - Various biosecurity-focused meetings
Professional Networks
- Biosecurity Central - Community hub
- ABSA (American Biological Safety Association) - Professional biosafety organization
What resources are recommended for learning biosecurity?
Start with foundational texts like Koblentz’s Living Weapons and the CDC BMBL (Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories). Follow key organizations including CDC, BARDA, WHO, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, and NTI. Subscribe to ProMED for outbreak alerts and explore GISAID and Nextstrain for genomic surveillance. For AI-biosecurity convergence, review RAND’s recent reports and follow Anthropic and OpenAI’s biosecurity evaluations.
Where can I find biosecurity training programs?
Graduate programs include Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (health security concentration), Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Science and Security, MIT’s synthetic biology programs, and Stanford CISAC. Mid-career professionals can apply for the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) at Johns Hopkins CHS, NTI’s Emerging Leaders Program, or Coefficient Giving’s Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness grants.
How do I stay current on biosecurity policy and research?
Subscribe to ProMED for outbreak reports, CIDRAP for infectious disease news, and Stat News for health policy journalism. Follow journals including Health Security, The Lancet, Nature, and Science. Review policy reports from RAND (especially the Meselson Center), Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, and NTI. Monitor OSTP and BARDA for U.S. policy updates, and track WHO and BWC Implementation Support Unit for international developments.
This appendix is part of The Biosecurity Handbook. Last updated: December 2025.