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James Diggans

@jdiggans.bsky.social
900 followers 1.5K following 28 posts

Bioinformatics and biosecurity

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Reposted by James Diggans
Kristian G. Andersen @kgandersen.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Amazing speed from the teams in Uganda and the DRC - impressive! Three genomes released so far - a few quick takes: 1️⃣ New genomes ~equidistant from 2007 and 2012 outbreaks. 2️⃣ Represents new spillover from reservoir. 3️⃣ Limited diversity, so too early to speculate on timing. Great work ⭐!
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Twist Bioscience @twistbioscience.com · 14/05/2026
AI is rapidly expanding what’s possible in biotech from accelerating drug discovery to designing new proteins. But as this Nature feature explores, those same tools also raise important biosecurity questions. Balancing innovation with responsible stewardship is essential.
nature.com
AI can design viruses, toxins and other bioweapons. How worried should we be?
Scientists are debating whether to limit biological AI software to ward off threats.
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Nature @nature.com · 16/04/2026
An unprecedented number of US scientists are trading in their lab coats to run for office in the US mid-term elections in November. go.nature.com/3QePHLk
go.nature.com
‘Science needs defending’: record number of researchers run for office in US mid-terms
Many Democrats making the switch to politics are motivated by the Trump administration’s cuts to science — whereas energy and AI are a pull for some Republicans.
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Matthew Facciani @matthewfacciani.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
I really appreciate this framework for digital responsibility by Mike Godwin (who coined Godwin's Law). 1. Verify Before You Amplify. 2. Treat Your Mistakes as Gifts. 3. Know Your Sources and Know Their Provenance. 4. Make Your Claims Checkable. 5. Be a Steward of the System, Not Just a User.
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Twist Bioscience @twistbioscience.com · 11/03/2026
Oligo-length biosecurity vs. AI engineering Bruce Whittmann, @erichorvitz.bsky.social, our @jdiggans.bsky.social & team examine the vulnerabilities of biosecurity screening software to AI-reformulated synthetic homologs of POCs that have been cut into smaller segments. @twistbioscience.com
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
On sabotage of our young scientists, by @holdenthorp.bsky.social @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Twist Bioscience @twistbioscience.com · 04/03/2026
From global DNA screening standards to safeguards for benchtop synthesizers & AI tools, a new biosecurity playbook is taking shape. Experts like our head of biosecurity, @jdiggans.bsky.social are thinking about this playbook so you don’t have to: bigthink.com/science-tech...
bigthink.com
How to deter biothreats in the age of gene synthesis
From global DNA screening standards to safeguards for benchtop synthesizers and AI tools, a new biosecurity playbook is taking shape.
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Active Site @activesite.bio · 19/02/2026
We ran a randomized controlled trial to see if LLMs can help novices perform molecular biology in a wet-lab. The results: LLMs may help in some aspects, but we found no significant increase at the core tasks end-to-end. That's lower than what experts predicted. Our findings 🧵
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Gregory Koblentz @gregkoblentz.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Why universal gene synthesis screening protects American biotech www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-am...
washingtonexaminer.com
Why universal gene synthesis screening protects American biotech
A recent bill, the Biosecurity Modernization and Innovation Act, outlines a vision for comprehensive gene synthesis screening standards.
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Stephen Turner @stephenturner.us · 03/02/2026
LLMs are good at idea quality, but weak on idea variance. GPT-4's brainstorm pools are less diverse than humans, unless you prompt for diversity explicitly. CoT prompting gets closest to “team human.” papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
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Matthew Facciani @matthewfacciani.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
"Some 10,109 doctoral-trained experts in science and related fields left their jobs last year as President Donald Trump dramatically shrank the overall federal workforce." www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office
A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies
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TeselaGen Biotechnology @teselagen.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Google’s AlphaGenome deep learning model wants to do for DNA what AlphaFold did for proteins www.chemistryworld.com/news/googles... #biology #AI #bio #biotech
chemistryworld.com
Google’s AlphaGenome wants to do for DNA what AlphaFold did for proteins
Model predicts effect of mutations on sequences up to 1 million base pairs in length and is adept at tackling complex non-coding regions
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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
This 🧵- any ‘article of the future’ proposals must consider this first. Discussions about new features/formats for human readers make little sense until we address this.
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The Verge @theverge.com · 15/01/2026
Amazon is buying copper harvested by bacteria for its data centers
buff.ly
Amazon is buying copper harvested by bacteria for its data centers
Bacteria-powered copper mining
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PBS News @pbsnews.org · 12/01/2026
Tonight marked the last broadcast of PBS News Weekend for the foreseeable future. As the show signs off the air, anchor John Yang looks back at some of our top stories and highlights over the years. to.pbs.org/4pxYe7W
to.pbs.org
Highlights from PBS News Weekend as show goes off the air
This Sunday is the final broadcast of PBS News Weekend, at least for the foreseeable future. PBS cancelled the show due to the loss of federal funding for public media. As our team signs off the air, anchor John Yang looks back at some of our top storie...
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Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
This afternoon, retired Army general Stanley McChrystal spoke at the retirement ceremony hosted by HRC for six trans service members who were forced out under Trump’s ban. “I shouldn’t have to be thanked for being here. First off, we shouldn’t be here. This shouldn’t be happening.” Full remarks:
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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 15/12/2025
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
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Twist Bioscience @twistbioscience.com · 12/12/2025
🤩 🎉 We’re thrilled to see our collaboration highlighting the importance of iterative improvement, cross industry collaboration, and foresight in biosecurity screening in the age of AI with @microsoft.com in this list: news.microsoft.com/source/featu... @twistbioscience.com, @jdiggans.bsky.social
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Pandemic Center at Brown University’s School of Public Health @pandemiccenter.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
@nti.org convened global experts at the 2025 MSC for a scenario involving an AI-designed virus to examine risks, opportunities, and needed governance. Hear insights from Brian Tse, @jdiggans.bsky.social, @bethcameron-dc.bsky.social, @jaimeyassif.bsky.social & Haley Severance.
youtu.be
Report Launch: Safeguarding AIxBio Capabilities to Prevent Global Catastrophe
YouTube video by Nuclear Threat Initiative
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Pandemic Center at Brown University’s School of Public Health @pandemiccenter.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
@nti.org is launching its new AIxBio governance report emerging from a 2025 MSC tabletop exercise with high-level international experts. Hear insights from Brian Tse, @jdiggans.bsky.social, @bethcameron-dc.bsky.social, @jaimeyassif.bsky.social , & Haley Severance. 🔗 Register Now ⬇️
nti.org
Report Launch: Safeguarding AIxBio Capabilities to Prevent Global Catastrophe
"Safeguarding Against Global Catastrophe: Risks, Opportunities, and Governance Options at the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Biology," highlights actions the international community can t...
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Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
The outbreak in Ethiopia is #Marburg virus, the first such outbreak for this country. 9 cases so far, including some health workers. x.com/drtedros/sta...
x.com
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X: "#Ethiopia has confirmed the outbreak that has infected at least 9 people in the south of the country is of #Marburg virus disease. I commend Ethiopia’s @FMoHealth for its rapid and transparent response to the outbreak, and the work of the Ethiopia Public Health Institute and" / X
#Ethiopia has confirmed the outbreak that has infected at least 9 people in the south of the country is of #Marburg virus disease. I commend Ethiopia’s @FMoHealth for its rapid and transparent response to the outbreak, and the work of the Ethiopia Public Health Institute and
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Twist Bioscience @twistbioscience.com · 10/11/2025
Microsoft has a fabulous behind-the-science blog paraphrasing the Paraphrase Project. 😉 @erichorvitz.bsky.social, Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian, and our own @jdiggans.bsky.social are thinking about the latest threats to biosecurity so you don’t have to...
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
The 2025 Ebola outbreak in Kasai, DRC, is caused by a virus virtually identical (>99.5%) to the one from Yambuku in 1976. Half a century later, the genome hasn’t changed. That’s not supposed to happen with an RNA virus. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
thelancet.com
Ebola virus in Kasai revives 50-year-old questions on viral latency
On Sept 4, 2025, DR Congo declared its 16th Ebola virus outbreak. The epicentre of this outbreak occurred in the Kasai province—the first resurgence in this region since 2008.1 Genomic analysis identi...
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Rosa Lafer-Sousa @rosalafersousa.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
$40 billion dollars is the size of the entire NIH budget.
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Twist Bioscience @twistbioscience.com · 16/10/2025
Collaborators @erichorvitz.bsky.social, Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian & @jdiggans.bsky.social discuss the paper in this engaging podcast. Watch it here: www.microsoft.com/en-us/resear... Read the paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @twistbioscience.com, @msftresearch.bsky.social
microsoft.com
Ideas: More AI-resilient biosecurity with the Paraphrase Project - Microsoft Research
In “Ideas,” collaborators Eric Horvitz, Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian, & James Diggans discuss a red-teaming effort that exposed & secured a biosecurity vulnerability in AI-driven protein design—& w...
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Stephen Turner @stephenturner.us · 16/10/2025
New blog post: Asymmetries in Biosecurity doi.org/10.59350/c5e...
doi.org
Asymmetries in Biosecurity
RAND Report: Why biology still favors the offense in biosecurity
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Eric Horvitz @erichorvitz.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
How do we decide what not to share? I explore “information hazards” in this blog--on when openness in science risks misuse. Paraphrase effort led to a first-of-its-kind publishing model, accepted by Science: "When AI Meets Biology" aka.ms/AAy56z3 Full paper on the project avail here: aka.ms/AAy5e9c
aka.ms
The Paraphrase Project
Strengthening nucleic acid biosecurity screening against generative protein design tools — improving hazard detection in the age of AI-assisted protein engineering.
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Microsoft Research @msftresearch.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
In “Ideas,” collaborators Eric Horvitz, Bruce Wittmann, Tessa Alexanian, & James Diggans discuss a red-teaming effort that exposed & secured a biosecurity vulnerability in AI-driven protein design—& what the work shows about managing AI’s dual-use risks. msft.it/6010sLYsr
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Bloomberg News @bloomberg.com · 25/09/2025
Venture capitalists in clean tech are starting to say out loud what they’ve suspected for a while: China’s dominance has left key sectors in the West uninvestable
bloom.bg
China Road Trip Exposes List of Uninvestable Assets in the West
Venture capitalists in clean tech are starting to say out loud what they’ve suspected for a while: China’s dominance has left key sectors in the West uninvestable.
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Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Today makes a very good day to listen to people who actually practice public health, pediatrics, and those with expertise in infectious diseases, developmental pediatrics, and/or epidemiology.
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WIRED @wired.com · 22/09/2025
Big Tech's embrace of President Trump has left many of us wondering: What the hell happened to Silicon Valley? In our new politics issue, we're getting into it. Also, we're taking this cover across the US in billboards, posters and a mural. Clues to find us in the 🧵: www.wired.com/politics-iss...
WIRED's The Politics Issue
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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Serious scholars have examined what happens when we change the number of H1-B visas issued. Cities that get more H1-B immigrants subsequently see the wages of natives *rise* substantially. Skilled immigrants bring new ideas, fill labor shortages and make us all more productive.
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ASM @asm.org · 04/09/2025
As national medical, scientific, public health and patient organizations, we call for the resignation of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ensure the health of the American people. Read our statement: asm.org/press-releas...
asm.org
Joint Statement Calling for Secretary Kennedy Resignation
The American Society for Microbiology released a joint statement calling for the resignation of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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Paul Voosen @voosen.me · 02/09/2025
NSF won't renew the funding for an academic center squarely focused on AI for weather forecasting, located right in the heart of US weather research in Oklahoma. (Notably, AI2ES was funded and created under the first Trump administration.)
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Deb Houry @drdebhoury.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Great article by my former colleague ADM Brett Giroir who led Operation Warp Speed: "This speed and precision... to recognize and eliminate threats − from COVID to cancer − provides America a critical weapon against pandemics, bioweapons, and other deadly diseases" www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
usatoday.com
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Ian L Morgan @ianlmorgan.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
House LHHC bill is out. Lots of hits to HHS, but the top line number for NIH is 1% decrease, mostly due to cuts ARPA-H. This seems like a huge rejection of the president's budget request.
democrats-appropriations.house.gov
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Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
New study by @brendannyhan.bsky.social, @jasonreifler.bsky.social & colleagues demonstrates that prebunking election fraud rumors — by warning about anticipated false claims & filling conceptual gaps that those claims exploit — helps to reduce belief in falsehoods: www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Trust in elections rises after ‘inoculations’ meant to preempt false fraud claims
New U.S.-Brazil study points to ways of countering election misinformation, political scientists say
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Demetre Daskalakis @drdemetre.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Enough is enough. The health of the country is in danger. Read our resignation letters: insidemedicine.substack.com/p/breaking-n...
insidemedicine.substack.com
Breaking News: Read three top CDC officials' resignation emails.
The end of an era.
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 27/08/2025
FUCK YEAH SCIENCE arstechnica.com/science/2025...
arstechnica.com
Bluesky now platform of choice for science community
It’s not just you. Survey says: “Twitter sucks now and all the cool kids are moving to Bluesky”…
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 25/08/2025
If US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine views continue to be the basis for public health policy, communities should prepare for diseases that have been gone for decades to reemerge, writes Jennifer Herricks.
thebulletin.org
The 'strangling angel' returns? RFK Jr.'s policies could foster a resurgence of now-rare diseases
If Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine views continue to be the basis for public health policy, communities should prepare for diseases that have been gone for decades to…
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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 26/08/2025
Promising support for proportional representation in our new poll. Could approximate with multi-member districts by a simple act of Congress. 9-in-10 adults say that fair elections are more important to them than their party winning (higher than I expected tbh) www.gelliottmorris.com/p/democrats-...
gelliottmorris.com
Democrats lead the U.S. House generic ballot by 8; voters back fair maps and oppose Trump's tariffs
Results from the August Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll
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Javi Ibarrondo @jibarrondo.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
AI-generated scientific hypotheses lag human ones when put to the test | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
science.org
AI-generated scientific hypotheses lag human ones when put to the test
Machines still face hurdles in identifying fresh research paths, study suggests
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
Want to get solar on your roof, an EV in your driveway + a heat pump in your garage? Or want your family + friends to go electric? There's still time to get federal incentives before they expire. Tune in to A Matter of Degrees to get all the details + share! www.degreespod.com/episodes/cas...
degreespod.com
Cash In On Clean Tech Incentives (Before It's Too Late) — A Matter of Degrees
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Yesterday the Supreme Court issued a convoluted, 36-page emergency order about NIH grant terminations. Two main takeaways: -$2 billion (not the government # of $780 million) in NIH grants will likely be re-terminated -future legal challenges will be much harder w/ @maxkozlov.bsky.social:
nature.com
US Supreme Court allows NIH to cut $2 billion in research grants
The decision will hinder lawsuits against grant terminations, legal specialists say.
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Richard M. Carpiano, PhD, MPH @rmcarpiano.medsky.social · 22/08/2025
3/2 link to RAND's Truth Decay project, which I have taught for years in my public policy ethics courses. www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
rand.org
Declining Trust in Facts and Institutions Imposes Costs on Society
“Truth Decay” is the diminishing reliance on facts and analysis in American public life. It has many damaging consequences: the erosion of civil discourse, political paralysis, alienation and disengag...
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Rep. Kevin Mullin @kevinmullin.house.gov · 19/08/2025
Trump's latest push to suppress voting rights: eliminating mail-in voting. He knows his extremist policies are wildly unpopular going into the 2026 election, so he's attacking free and fair elections using misinformation & conspiracy theories.
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Brandy Zadrozny @brandyzadrozny.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
New: I spent the week looking into the cancelled mRNA contracts. Interviews with HHS officials and MAGA and MAHA influencers reveal an HHS agency plagued by dysfunction as Kennedy chips away at the nation’s public health. www.msnbc.com/news/news-an...
msnbc.com
How RFK Jr. alienated MAGA, MAHA and the White House in a single week
The botched announcement about mRNA vaccines reveals a health department full of dysfunction and infighting.
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Allen School @uwcse.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
We're thrilled to be working with colleagues at project lead @ai2.bsky.social and academic partners @unm.edu, University of Hawai'i at Hilo, and University of New Hampshire on this exciting #NSFfunded project that will create open #AI tools to support scientists and their groundbreaking work. 👇
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STAT @statnews.com · 13/08/2025
“This isn't scientific disagreement. It's either staggering incompetence or willful misrepresentation,” writes infectious disease physician Jake Scott. www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/r...
statnews.com
Kennedy's case against mRNA vaccines collapses under his own evidence
“This isn't scientific disagreement. It's either staggering incompetence or willful misrepresentation,” writes infectious disease physician Jake Scott.
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