This episode of Biosecurity: Changing the Game is all about genomic surveillance — one of the most powerful tools we have for preventing the next pandemic or bioterror event. It’s a story about technology, intelligence, and trust — and how sequencing tiny bits of genetic code can help us detect threats early, attribute their origins, and even deter malicious actors.

Dr. Dinah Nasike explores this topic with guests from Ginkgo Bioworks - Joshua Griffin Dunn who is the Senior Director, Computational Biology and Head of Design; and Mitchell Wolfe who is the Vice President for Global Engagement and Governance at Ginkgo.

In the conclusion of Dr. Dinah Nasike's conversation with her guest, Dr. Julius Lutwama, a virologist and expert in viral hemorrhagic fevers, they continue their discussion on the increasing number of infectious disease threats in the world and how to prepare for future outbreaks.

Dr. Dinah Nasike and her guest, Dr. Julius Lutwama, a virologist and expert in viral hemorrhagic fevers, discuss the increasing number of infectious disease threats in the world and how to impact preparedness for future outbreaks.

In this episode of Biosecurity: Changing the Game, Dr. Dinah Nasike presents a narrative of a case study on Unit 731 to wrap up the Biological Weapons Covention series. Unit 731 was a secret biological weapons research operation unit operated by the Imperial Japanese Army that was responsible for large-scale biological and chemical warfare research.

Links for more information:

• The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

In the third and final part of this conversation, Dr. Dinah Nasike, Dr. Alex Kyabarongo (a veterinarian, former Political Affairs Intern at the Biological Weapons Convention, and currently a Masters of Biodefense Candidate at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University) and Sandra Matinyi (Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow and the Executive Director of Nuo Bioscience, Uganda) conclude their discussion of the Biological Weapons Convention.

Links for more information:

• ScienceDirect
• Siege of Caffa
• British Forces in North America
• Germany's Anthrax Horses
• Japan’s Unit 731 (1930s–1945)
• Rajneesh Cult and Salmonella
• What is dual-use research of concern?
• The German BW Program
• The Japanese BW Program
• The Soviet Biological Weapons Program and Its Legacy in Today’s Russia
• U.S. Biological Warfare and Biological Defense Programs
• The Impact of Biological Warfare in the Cold War Era - AMO
• 1925 Geneva Protocol – UNODA
• Nuo Bioscience
• The Youth for Biosecurity Initiative – UNODA
• Dual-Use Research | NIH Office of Intramural Research
• Mirror Life Science
• The BWC Confidence-Building Measures
• Revolutionizing the Biological Weapons Convention: Integrating Science Diplomacy for Global Security | Science & Diplomacy
• Implementation Support Unit – UNODA
• Biowarfare, bioterrorism and biocrime: A historical

In the second part of this conversation, Dr. Dinah Nasike, Dr. Alex Kyabarongo (a veterinarian, former Political Affairs Intern at the Biological Weapons Convention, and currently a Masters of Biodefense Candidate at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University) and Sandra Matinyi (Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow and the Executive Director of Nuo Bioscience, Uganda) continue their discussion of the Biological Weapons Convention.

Links for more information:

• ScienceDirect
• Siege of Caffa
• British Forces in North America
• Germany's Anthrax Horses
• Japan’s Unit 731 (1930s–1945)
• Rajneesh Cult and Salmonella
• What is dual-use research of concern?
• The German BW Program
• The Japanese BW Program
• The Soviet Biological Weapons Program and Its Legacy in Today’s Russia
• U.S. Biological Warfare and Biological Defense Programs
• The Impact of Biological Warfare in the Cold War Era - AMO
• 1925 Geneva Protocol – UNODA
• Nuo Bioscience
• The Youth for Biosecurity Initiative – UNODA
• Dual-Use Research | NIH Office of Intramural Research
• Mirror Life Science
• The BWC Confidence-Building Measures
• Revolutionizing the Biological Weapons Convention: Integrating Science Diplomacy for Global Security | Science & Diplomacy
• Implementation Support Unit – UNODA
• Biowarfare, bioterrorism and biocrime: A historical overview

In this episode, Dr. Dinah Nasike is joined by: Dr. Alex Kyabarongo, a veterinarian, former Political Affairs Intern at the Biological Weapons Convention, and currently a Masters of Biodefense Candidate at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University; and Sandra Matinyi, Biosecurity Game Changers Fellow and the Executive Director of Nuo Bioscience, Uganda. Together, they discuss the Biological Weapons Convention: what is it, why was it created and for whom, and how is it holding up in today's world of rapidly developing science and the escalating risk of epidemics?

Links for more information:

• ScienceDirect
• Siege of Caffa
• British Forces in North America
• Germany's Anthrax Horses
• Japan’s Unit 731 (1930s–1945)
• Rajneesh Cult and Salmonella
• What is dual-use research of concern?
• The German BW Program
• The Japanese BW Program
• The Soviet Biological Weapons Program and Its Legacy in Today’s Russia
• U.S. Biological Warfare and Biological Defense Programs
• The Impact of Biological Warfare in the Cold War Era - AMO
• 1925 Geneva Protocol – UNODA
• Nuo Bioscience
• The Youth for Biosecurity Initiative – UNODA
• Dual-Use Research | NIH Office of Intramural Research
• Mirror Life Science
• The BWC Confidence-Building Measures
• Revolutionizing the Biological Weapons Convention: Integrating Science Diplomacy for Global Security | Science & Diplomacy
• Implementation Support Unit –...

In part two of "A Rising Tide: The Escalating Wave of Global Infectious Disease Outbreaks," Dr. Dinah Nasike continues her discussion with biosecurity experts Beth Cameron and Wilmot James, both Senior Advisors to Brown University's Pandemic Center, and Peter Babigumira, a Senior Technical Advisor at Makerere University’s Infectious Diseases Institute and an Epidemic Intelligence Analyst at the Uganda Ministry of Health.

• Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)
• Africa CDC Biosafety and Biosecurity Initiative
• The Joint External Evaluation (JEE)
• The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005)
• Biosecurity Game Changers Fellowship Program
• The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)