Researchers: US Needs 'Biological Intelligence' Unit

The United States "could face disaster in the near future" due to synthetic biology overseas that could be used for biological warfare, three security researchers wrote in an opinion piece published by The Washington Post on Monday.

The opinion piece was written by Matt Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser in the Trump administration and head of the geopolitical research firm Garnaut Global, Ashish K. Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and former White House COVID-19 response coordinator during the Biden administration, and Matthew McKnight, Ginkgo Bioworks' head of biosecurity and a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center.

The authors contend that although the U.S. led a movement to ban the use and research of biological weapons, new developments in synthetic biology "breakthroughs in gene-editing technology and artificial intelligence have made the manipulation and production of deadly viruses and bacteria easier than ever."

This could allow adversarial countries to modify viruses for possible use in biological warfare. The authors note that senior Chinese military officers "have been writing for years about the potential benefits of offensive biological warfare."

They add, "For deterrence to work, Washington and its allies must have a robust, pervasive system for tracking and, where possible, eliminating highly dangerous research around the world."

This would replace the current warning system, which the authors describe as "antiquated."

According to the authors, "biological surveillance, detection and attribution must become a core national security function," and Congress, the Defense Department, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence "should immediately establish and fund a new intelligence discipline: biological intelligence, or BIOINT, to mobilize allied governments and private companies to detect and assess high-risk scientific research and incipient biological threats."

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