Biotechnology And Artificial Intelligence: Risks In Research For The Security And Proliferation Of Biological Weapons

Necessary Knowledge and Technological Requirements for the Development and Usage af Biological Agents as Biological Weapons 

This project was conducted in cooperation with the Institute for Security and Risk Sciences (ISR) at the BOKU University of Vienna under project management at the  ZNF. The contracting agency was the German Bundestag's Office of Technology Assessment (TAB). Results were presented in March 2025, after a five-month research period.

On the one hand, the motivation and thematic background of this project drew upon technical developments in biotechnology and synthetic biology, and on the other hand, on technical advancements in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and laboratory automation. Both areas, which are converging in their development, have been instrumental in revolutionary developments in basic research, industrial biotechnology, and medicine. At the same time, the combination of AI and biotechnology contributes to new security risks. Therefore, a potential threat from new biological weapons (BW) developed with the help of AI cannot be ruled out.

This is why  the developments of AI require a decisive and coordinated approach at the international level. Only in this way can the proliferation of potentially devastating BW be effectively contained. A scientific examination of the new technologies and their expected risks with regards to the proliferation of BW  should thereby be the starting point. This project aimed at contributing to this fist step by analyzing knowledge from past successes and failures in the usage and testing of BW as well as current bottleknecks and difficulties for state, non-state actors in the biological weapons developments with regards to new technologies. 

Contact:

Dr. Dunaj M. Sabra (project manager, ZNF)

Dr. Johannes L. Frieß (ISR)