I think it would be more accurate to say we should have multiple levels of dangerous capability tests, which reflect different levels of increased danger.
For example, someone who has never pipetted before might struggle to measure microliters precisely or contaminate the tip when touching a bottle. Acquiring these skills often takes months of learning from experienced scientists — something terrorists can’t easily do.
This seems like a very thin line of defense. I first worked as an intern in a bio lab and learned how to pipette when I was in high school. Physical lack of a fume hood for sterile technique seems like a slightly bigger barrier, but even then, it’s not all that hard to find people with radical beliefs who have science or engineering degrees, and many of those will be able to get access to basic lab facilities. How many people have ever worked in a wet lab for one month? In the proposed scenario, all of those people will have access to the knowledge and skills needed to make bioweapons within a year or two. How many of these people could be persuaded to teach a layperson the basic mechanical skills needed? Maybe pay them and claim they’re teaching an introductory class for a job training program or something.
In other words:
you probably aren’t going to make perfect meringues the first time because everything about your kitchen — the humidity, the dimensions, and power of your oven, the exact timing of how long you whipped the egg whites — is a little bit different than the person who wrote the recipe
is true. But, it’s not so reassuring if I want to make sure no one successfully makes meringues without permission, and they each can get at least a handful of attempts on average, and there are millions of people who’ve done other kinds of cooking before, and in addition to the recipe you’re allowed to watch every video and read every article available for free online showing different aspects of the processes being demonstrated.
I think it would be more accurate to say we should have multiple levels of dangerous capability tests, which reflect different levels of increased danger.
This seems like a very thin line of defense. I first worked as an intern in a bio lab and learned how to pipette when I was in high school. Physical lack of a fume hood for sterile technique seems like a slightly bigger barrier, but even then, it’s not all that hard to find people with radical beliefs who have science or engineering degrees, and many of those will be able to get access to basic lab facilities. How many people have ever worked in a wet lab for one month? In the proposed scenario, all of those people will have access to the knowledge and skills needed to make bioweapons within a year or two. How many of these people could be persuaded to teach a layperson the basic mechanical skills needed? Maybe pay them and claim they’re teaching an introductory class for a job training program or something.
In other words:
is true. But, it’s not so reassuring if I want to make sure no one successfully makes meringues without permission, and they each can get at least a handful of attempts on average, and there are millions of people who’ve done other kinds of cooking before, and in addition to the recipe you’re allowed to watch every video and read every article available for free online showing different aspects of the processes being demonstrated.