Motivating Proactive Biorisk Management

Abstract

Scholars and practitioners of biosafety and biosecurity (collectively, biorisk management or BRM) have argued that life scientists should play a more proactive role in monitoring their work for potential risks, mitigating harm, and seeking help as necessary. However, most efforts to promote proactive BRM have focused on training life scientists in technical skills and have largely ignored the extent to which life scientists wish to use them (ie, their motivation). In this article, we argue that efforts to promote proactive BRM would benefit from a greater focus on life scientists' motivation. We review relevant literature on life scientists' motivation to practice BRM, offer examples of successful interventions from adjacent fields, and outline ideas for possible interventions to promote proactive BRM, along with strategies for iterative development, testing, and scaling.

The whack-a-mole governance challenge for AI-enabled synthetic biology: literature review and emerging frameworks

“…Regardless of intent, there is also the risk that a lab leak could be a digital leak, facilitated by AI. Either way, beyond adopting a needed multilateral approach ( GBR, 2023 ), the next best might be to increase scientists’ motivation (which might be even more important than raising skill levels) to practice good biorisk management ( Greene et al, 2023 ) and adopting a culture of safety ( Perkins et al, 2019 ).…”