Season 14 • Episode 1132

Responding to an AI-Generated Pandemic

Episode Description

About this episode:

Previously on the podcast, we covered the emerging threat of bad actors using AI to create novel bioweapons. In this episode: how can we prepare countermeasures for if—or when—it happens? Johns Hopkins Professor Jeff Coller explains why mRNA vaccines can be quickly developed to serve as countermeasures to synthetic pandemics—and why the U.S. must invest in these tools before it's too late.

Note: Jeff Coller is a co-founder of Alliance for mRNA Medicines, a non-profit organization advancing mRNA technology; Rare REPAIRx, a public-private mRNA consortium building genetic medicines; and Tevard Biosciences, a tRNA-based therapeutics company. He receives research funding from the National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins University.

Guest:

Jeff Coller, PhD, is a Bloomberg distinguished professor of biomedical engineering and the director of the Johns Hopkins RNA Innovation Center.

Host:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department.

Show links and related content:

We Aren't Ready for the New Age of Biological Threats—The New York Times
How Cuts to mRNA Vaccine Development Will Set the U.S. Back—Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Will AI Generate New Biological Threats?—Public Health On Call (October 2026)

Transcript information:

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