A Skills-Based Taxonomy of Biosecurity Interventions

[fezzy🔸]

Context

This is a continuation of a series of posts regarding my transition to Biosecurity. After having completed the BlueDot Impact Course on Biosecurity (which I would highly recommend), the next question I wanted to answer is which biosecurity intervention should I focus on? I want to focus on an intervention that is suited to my skillset. However, this was not as straightforward, given the broad landscape of biosecurity interventions. My idea was to create a breakdown of biosecurity interventions mapped to relevant technical and policy skills. I hope this post will help others like myself.

The Castle: A Mental Model for Biosecurity

The biosecurity interventions I selected are mostly based on the curriculum for the BlueDot Impact Course on Biosecurity, with some additions from the Map of Biosecurity Interventions, and a Computer Scientist’s Guide to Stopping Pandemics. I think it’s useful to think of Biosecurity as a tiered defense system of a castle. Using this analogy, we can break down the interventions like so:

Layer	Analogy	Examples
1. Prevention	Treaties & walls	AI Safeguards DNA Synthesis Screening BWC
2. Detection	Watchtowers	Metgenomic sequencing Rapid Individual testing Genetic engineering/​attribution
3. Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions	The moat	Pandemic proof PPE Far-UVC
4. Medical Countermeasures	Reinforcements	Platform vaccines Broad-spectrum vaccines and therapeutics Clinical Trials innovation

Should the first layers of defense

Based on this analogy, I believe we should prioritize earlier layers of defense, since containing a pandemic after it has already broken out is much more costly than preventing it in the first place. However, I’ve heard a couple different counterarguments to this, including:

• Some defenses are weaker than others. For instance, the BWC is notoriously hard to enforce

• We should prioritize neglected interventions. For instance, one could make the case that there are still a lot of low-hanging fruit with regards to non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as Far-UVC .

• We will need all layers of defense, so that weaknesses in one layer do not threaten the whole system (see Swiss cheese model)

I’m curious what others have to say about this, and how it fits into their intervention prioritization.

Mapping Interventions <-> Skills

Now that we have an overview of specific interventions within Biosecurity, we can map those to relevant skills. Some interventions are more technically oriented, some are more policy oriented, and some are both (source). I have listed some relevant skills below, but it is by no means exhaustive. A couple of final caveats before the final mapping:

• Operational skills seem applicable across different interventions

• This resource should help assess fit for a particular role, but one should consider other factors, such as significance, efficacy, and leverage (see SELF framework)

• Health economics

Layer 1: Prevention

Interventions	Technical	Policy Skills
AI Safeguards	Machine Learning Red-teaming Software Engineering Statistics/​data analysis Information security	Public policy/​law International relations/​diplomacy
DNA Synthesis Screening	Bioinformatics Cryptography Machine Learning Software Engineering
Biological Weapons Convention		International relations/​diplomacy
Governance of risky biological research		Public policy/​law

Layer 2: Detection

Interventions	Technical	Policy Skills
Metagenomic sequencing	Bioinformatics Mathematical modelling/​epidemiology Wetlab skills	Regulatory policy International data-sharing Health economics
Rapid Individual testing	Bioengineering Biochemistry Electrical/​mechanical engineering Software engineering	Regulatory policy Health economics Procurement policy
Genetic engineering detection/​attribution	Bioinformatics Machine Learning Synthetic biology Comparative genomics Microbial forensics	International law Arms control Dual-use governance National security policy
Internet Search Traffic monitoring
Agricultural Disease Monitoring

Layer 3: Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions

Interventions	Technical	Policy Skills
Pandemic proof PPE	Mechanical engineering Physics Mathematical modelling/​epidemiology	Regulatory policy Procurement policy Public health communication Health economics
Biohardening (Far-UVC & Glycol Vapors, better Air Purifiers)	Mechanical engineering Physics Civil Engineering Mathematical modelling/​epidemiology	Regulatory policy Building codes /​ standards policy Public health communication Health economics

Layer 4: Medical Countermeasures

Interventions	Technical	Policy Skills
Faster R&D	Bioengineering/​Synthetic Biology Computational Biology Machine Learning Immunology Virology	Regulatory policy Research funding policy Intellectual property law
Clinical Trials innovation	Biostatistics Software Engineering Epidemiological modelling Data science	Regulatory policy Bioethics International coordination
Better financing and procurement	Health economics/​modelling Data science Supply chain optimization	Public policy/​law International trade law Procurement policy Health economics
Faster manufacturing and delivery	Chemical/​bioprocess engineering Supply chain/​logistics engineering Software Engineering Mechanical Engineering	Regulatory policy Trade policy Procurement Policy International Coordination
Broad-spectrum vaccines and therapeutics	Bioengineering/​synthetic biology Computational biology Machine Learning Structural biology	Regulatory policy Health economics

Future Work

I think it would also be useful to add a column for organizations doing relevant work in these interventions so readers know where to apply and reach out. I will consider adding this if there’s sufficient interest.

As mentioned above, if you’d like to contribute or have expertise in any of these areas, please leave a comment or reach out directly.

What’s missing & how you can help

This mapping is incomplete. I’m sharing it now because I think even the partial version is useful, and because I’d like the community’s help improving it. Specific areas where feedback would be valuable:

1. Prioritizing the first layers of defense: do you agree? Disagree? What evidence or frameworks should I be considering?

2. Missing interventions or skills: what have I overlooked?

3. General usefulness: is this format helpful for your own career planning? What would make it more so?

If you’d like to contribute or have expertise in any of these areas, please leave a comment or reach out directly.