Season 14 • Episode 1113

Will AI Generate New Biological Threats?

Oct 1, 2026

17:16

Global Health Environmental Health Public Health Health Policy

Episode Description

About this episode:

Scientists, tech companies, and world leaders are sounding the alarm on potential threats to humanity as AI models grow more powerful. Is part of this threat related to the technology's biological capabilities? In this episode: Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, answers: yes. He provides an overview of what AI is capable of doing and what possible threats could be around the corner if policies don't intervene to control these developments.

Guest:

Dr. Tom Inglesby is a professor of Environmental Health and Engineering and the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

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:

A.I. Queries From Abroad Raise Fears of a Biological Weapons Race—The New York Times
How AI makes biological research more dangerous—Axios
Detecting and countering misuse of AI: September 2026—Anthropic
Generative design of bacteriophages with genome language models—Science

Transcript information:

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