Emily Mullin WIRED spoke to Joshua Dunn, head of design Ginkgo Bioworks, about ENDAR, our computational platform that works like a radar for genetic engineering. The tech will continue to get more accurate as it encounters more (and more diverse) data: wired.com/story/how-to-d…

How unequal is the global SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance? 🦠🧬 Our recently published Nature Communications article analysed how countries performed in the first two years of pandemic, both in terms of sequencing intensity and timeliness of surveillance. 🧵👇🏾 nature.com/articles/s4146…

“We saw that travelers were this important sentinel for bringing in new things like variants or tracking lineages. And we could combine the pooled testing approach w/ our sequencing capability.”-Andy Rothstein in COVID-19 Data Dispatch. coviddatadispatch.com/2022/11/06/how…

Make some space in your favorite bookmarks—our real-time epidemic tracker just debuted on our home page! Take a look at dozens of different epidemics being tracked around the world, broken down by country and pathogen: concentricbyginkgo.com Our World in Data

We're thrilled to announce a planned partnership with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Botswana to develop and implement new biosecurity capabilities. These tools can help empower public health officials to make informed decisions. Read more here: prnewswire.com/news-releases/…

Growing attention to the possibility of emerging variants in China underscores the utility of investing in traveler-based genomic sequencing programs. In partnership with CDC and XpresCheck, @concentricbygbw sequences samples and posts data online. covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra…

‘The dream of biosecurity infrastructure’ - The CDC program fits into the Biden administration’s broader vision for using the lessons learned during the Covid pandemic to bolster the nation’s defenses. Ginkgo Bioworks @concentricbygbw politico.com/news/2023/01/1…

Being able to detect genomic variants of COVID and other pathogens, whether natural or engineered—"That's the dream of biosecurity infrastructure. And it’s totally doable," Matthew F. McKnight tells Krista Mahr POLITICO. politico.com/news/2023/01/1…

Check out our new paper in Nature Communications! nature.com/articles/s4146… I collected four years of continuous GHG fluxes to quantify importance hot moments of N2O emissions from continuous alfalfa agriculture. < 1% of measurements accounted for up to 57% of annual emissions!

RELEASE: The Maryland Department of Health has confirmed and reported a positive case of locally acquired malaria in a Maryland resident who lives in the National Capital Region. The individual was hospitalized and is now recovering. Read more: bit.ly/3E1514L

Ok, summer is over 🫤🫤. Here are a few belated takeaways on the DoD Biodefense Posture Review (BPR) and what it means for biosecurity and biodefense via stream of consciousness [thread] below @concentricbyginkgo Ginkgo Bioworks media.defense.gov/2023/Aug/17/20…

(1/n) Biological threats are a century-defining problem and biodefense is a core DoD mission. Threats are accelerating because of bad actors' willingness to explore advances in genetic engineering and the combination of AI + biotechnology. vox.com/future-perfect…

We were thrilled to have CDC Director pay a visit to the CDC Travel Health Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) booth at the Seattle airport last week! We are so proud to support TGS, along with our partners, @Xprescheck. wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/tr…

Exciting news! Our bioinformatics team published a preprint detailing an analysis of the BA.2.86 variant. Our team analyzed all BA.2.86 genomes deposited into GISAID in the first 2 weeks of emergence and suggest it may become a dominant variant globally. biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

"Disease and habitat loss drove 91% of status deteriorations [in amphibians] between 1980 and 2004. Ongoing and projected climate change effects are now of increasing concern, driving 39% of status deteriorations since 2004, followed by habitat loss (37%)" nature.com/articles/s4158…

Today, we're launching the Pathogen Harmonized Observatory, or Pharos: a global platform for managing and sharing data on wildlife disease. You can explore some example datasets, or upload your own, by heading over to pharos.viralemergence.org 🖥️ More on the project... 🧵

I'm hiring! Are you bioinformatician or comp biologist excited about biosecurity & public health? Our team is looking for a candidate with diverse bioinformatic experience and excited about high-impact projects. Reach out and apply! ginkgobioworks.com/job-listings/?…

Excited about the epidemiology of emerging viruses? We're looking for one or more postdocs in - count em - FOUR areas. Join us right as we move into a beautiful office full of brilliant and kind colleagues from across Yale's campus. (1/2) apply.interfolio.com/153039

In response to the growing #mpox threat and World Health Organization (WHO)'s public health emergency, we are actively tracking the risk and spread of mpox globally and in central Africa. Beyond analyzing travel patterns and transmission dynamics, Ginkgo has deployed biosurveillance efforts that show