#241 – Richard Moulange on how now AI codes viable genomes from scratch and outperforms virologists at lab work — what could go wrong?

About this episode

Dr. Richard Moulange discusses the implications of AI in designing genomes and its potential impact on biosecurity.

Last September, scientists used an AI model to design genomes for entirely new bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria). They then built them in a lab. Many were viable. And despite being entirely novel some even outperformed existing viruses from that family. That alone is remarkable. But as today's guest — Dr Richard Moulange, one of the world's top experts on 'AI–Biosecurity' — explains, it's just one of many data points showing how AI is dissolving the barriers that have historically kept biological weapons out of reach. For years, experts have reassured us that 'tacit knowledge' — the hands-on, hard-to-Google lab skills needed to work with dangerous pathogens — would prevent bad actors from weaponising biology. So far, they've been right. But as of 2025 that reassurance is crumbling. The Virology Capabilities Test measures exactly this kind of troubleshooting expertise, and finds that modern AI models crushed top human virologists even in their self-declared area of greatest specialisation and expertise — 45% to 22%. Meanwhile, Anthropic’s research shows PhD-level biologists getting meaningfully better at weapons-relevant tasks with AI assistance — with the effect…

People in this episode

Host: Rob Wiblin

Guest: Richard Moulange

Topics covered

• AI in biology
• biosecurity
• genome design
• virology
• biological weapons
• AI capabilities

Keywords

• AI
• genomes
• bacteriophages
• virologists
• biological weapons
• biosecurity
• lab work
• pathogens

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Anthropic, AI–Biosecurity, Virology Capabilities Test

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