Publications

Publications

• Deep untargeted wastewater metagenomic sequencing from sewersheds across the United States

  Justen et al. (2026) – medRxiv

• Leveraging the U.S. blood supply to detect emerging viral threats

  Justen et al. (2026) – medRxiv

• Metagenomic sequencing of composite airplane wastewater for surveillance of emerging viruses

  McLaren et al. (2026) – medRxiv

• Virology Capabilities Test (VCT): A Multimodal Virology Q&A Benchmark

  Götting et al. (2025)

• Untargeted longitudinal ultra deep metagenomic sequencing of wastewater provides a comprehensive readout of expected and unexpected viral pathogens

  Rushford et al. (2025) – medRxiv

• Inferring the sensitivity of wastewater metagenomic sequencing for early detection of viruses: a statistical modelling study

  Grimm et al. (2025) – The Lancet Microbe

• Deep Wastewater Metatranscriptomic Sequencing Data, Los Angeles, USA, 2023-2024

  Grimm et al. (2025) – SSRN

• METAGENE-1: Metagenomic Foundation Model for Pandemic Monitoring

  Liu et al. (2025) – arXiv

• Indoor air sampling for detection of viral nucleic acids

  Justen et al. (2025) – Journal of Aerosol Science

• Comparing sampling strategies for early detection of stealth biothreats

  Bradshaw W, Grimm S (2024) – Nucleic Acid Observatory

• SecureBio Recommendations for AI and Biosecurity Under NIST’s E.O. 14110 RFI

  Jeyapragasan, Gopal, Esvelt (2024)

• Predicting Virus Relative Abundance in Wastewater

  Kaufman et al. (2023) – Nucleic Acid Observatory

• Inferring the sensitivity of wastewater metagenomic sequencing for pathogen early detection

  Grimm et al. (2023) – medRxiv

• Virus-like DNA tracers for characterizing wastewater-based pathogen monitoring systems

  Gopal et al. (2023) – bioRxiv

• Will releasing the weights of future large language models grant widespread access to pandemic agents?

  Gopal et al. (2023) – arXiv

• Securing Civilisation Against Catastrophic Pandemics

  Gopal et al. (2023) – Geneva Centre for Security Policy

• Assessing the safety of new germicidal far-UVC technologies

  Görlitz et al. (2023) – Photochemistry & Photobiology 00: 1-20

• Can large language models democratize access to dual-use biotechnology?

  Soice et al. (2023) – arXiv

• Broadening the Spectrum: The Role of Germicidal UV in ASHRAE’s Control of Infectious Aerosols Standard

  Justen et al. (2023)

• Analysis of the first genetic engineering attribution challenge.

  Crook et al. (2022) – Nature Communications 13 : 7374

• Credible pandemic virus identification will trigger the immediate proliferation of agents as lethal as nuclear devices

  Esvelt (2022) – Senate Testimony

• Delay, Detect, Defend: Preparing for a Future in which Thousands Can Release New Pandemics

  Esvelt (2022) – Geneva Centre for Security Policy

• Insidious Insights: Implications of viral vector engineering for pathogen enhancement.

  Sandbrink et al. (2022) – Gene Therapy

• A Global Nucleic Acid Observatory for Biodefense and Planetary Health

  NAO Consortium (2021) – arXiv

• A Scalable Solution for Signaling Face Touches to Reduce the Spread of Surface-based Pathogens

  Rojas et al. (2021)

• The feasibility of targeted test-trace-isolate for the control of SARS-CoV-2 variants

  Bradshaw et al. (2021) – medRxiv

• Bidirectional contact tracing could dramatically improve COVID-19 control

  Bradshaw et al. (2021) – Nature Communications 12 : 232

• A machine learning toolkit for genetic engineering attribution to facilitate biosecurity

  Alley et al. (2020) – Nature Communications 11 : 6293

• Cryptographic Aspects of DNA Screening

  Baum et al. (2020)

• Random adversarial threshold search enables specific, secure, and automated DNA synthesis screening

  Gretton et al. (2020)

• Inoculating science against potential pandemics and information hazards

  Esvelt (2018) – PLOS Pathogens 14 : e1007286

• Calls for Caution in Genome Engineering Should Be a Model for Similar Dialogue on Pandemic Pathogen Research

  Lipsitch et al. (2015) – Ann. Intern. Med. 163 : 790-791

Research Resources

• Detection Protocols

  Lab protocols and methods for metagenomic wastewater surveillance

• SecureBio GitHub

  Code repositories and computational notebooks for wastewater analysis and pandemic monitoring

Other media

• Boston nose swabs: Researchers offer $2 for viral samples

  The Boston Globe (2025)

• Exclusive: AI Outsmarts Virus Experts in the Lab, Raising Biohazard Fears

  Time (2025)

• The quest to build better defenses for AI risks

  Transformer (2025)

• It shouldn’t be easy to buy synthetic DNA fragments to recreate the 1918 flu virus

  STAT News (2024)

• Essential Workers Need Essential Protection

  The Latecomer (2024)

• Brussels should know AI-assisted bioterrorism is a risk worth considering

  EuroNews (2023)

• Kevin Esvelt on cults that want to kill everyone, stealth vs wildfire pandemics, and how he felt inventing gene drives

  80,000 Hours (2023)

• How AI could spark the next pandemic

  Vox (2023)

• Another AI threat: The next pandemic

  Axios (2023)

• Could chatbots help devise the next pandemic virus?

  Science (2023)

• Kevin Esvelt: Pandemics, Gene Drives, Existential Threats

  Xapiens at MIT (2023)

• Emerging Technologies: What Opportunities for International Security

  Geneva Centre for Security Policy (2023)

• Kevin Esvelt | Safeguarding exponential biology

  Frontiers Forum Live (2023)

• Experts Debate the Risks of Made-to-Order DNA

  Undark (2022)

• How to make Covid the last pandemic

  Vox (2022)

• Kevin Esvelt wants to make the world safe from — and for — biotechnology

  Vox (2022)

• How a deliberate pandemic could crush societies and what to do about it

  Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (2022)

• How to Prevent the Next Pandemic

  Asterisk (2022)

• Kevin Esvelt and Jonas Sandbrink on Risks from Biological Research

  Hear This Idea (2022)

• Contact tracing: So promising. So invasive.

  Should This Exist? (2022)

• Recipes for Future Plagues

  After On Podcast (2022)

• Manipulating viruses and risking pandemics is too dangerous. It’s time to stop.

  Washington Post (2021)