Biosafety Now

Biosafety Now is a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in the United States that campaigns for stronger biosafety, biosecurity, and biorisk management in research involving dangerous pathogens. According to its official website, the organization was formed in response to the rapidly increasing power and decreasing cost of advanced biotechnology, which it argues has made lab-generated pandemics a constant threat to the survival of the human species. Biosafety Now focuses specifically on what it calls "enhanced potential pandemic pathogens" (ePPP) research — work that creates new, non-natural pathogens more dangerous than those found in nature. The group contends that such research is subject to almost no national or international oversight and that the public has largely been excluded from discussion of the threat. The organization describes itself as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity that relies on donations to fund its advocacy. Its stated vision is "a future free of lab-generated pandemics, a future where reckless research on pathogens is ended, and a future where public trust in science is restored." Its mission is to demand national- and international-level restrictions, regulations, and oversight to reduce the risks posed by ePPP research. Biosafety Now argues that public health and safety require all such research to be subject to independent external controls, rather than being trusted to the oversight of the experimenters themselves or the organizations funding the research. Biosafety Now operates primarily as an advocacy and public-education platform. Its website features sections on the threat of pandemic pathogens, lab accidents and mishaps, the question of whether COVID-19 was a lab accident, and its proposed solutions under the headings "Biosafety Now!," "Biosecurity Now!," and "Biorisk Management Now!" The organization maintains a Substack newsletter, hosts X (Twitter) Spaces, publishes essays, petitions and letters, newsletters, and press releases, and provides resources for communities seeking to mobilize against dangerous pathogen research. Its leadership team is drawn from around the world and includes people with expertise in biomedicine, mathematics, public health, public policy, law, social science, and public advocacy. Named leadership figures on the website include Simon Wain-Hobson and Alex Washburne. A recurring theme in Biosafety Now's materials is the claim that lab accidents involving dangerous pathogens are not as rare as proponents of ePPP research suggest. Citing annual records of the CDC/USDA Select Agent Program, the organization states that the program receives roughly 200 reports of theft, loss, or release of Biological Select Agents and Toxins (BSAT) per year — an average of about four such incidents per week in US bioweapons-agents labs. Biosafety Now uses such figures to argue for comprehensive, legally binding oversight at both national and international levels, with the goal of foreseeing, regulating, and ultimately minimizing the risks to the public of research with potentially dangerous pathogens.

Biosafety Now is a relatively new non-governmental organization. Its website describes it as "a new NGO with a leadership team from around the world." The organization was formed in response to the rapid advance of biotechnology, which in its view has made research-generated pandemics a constant threat to humanity. Biosafety Now states that research creating new, non-natural potential pandemic pathogens is growing while being subject to almost no national or international oversight, and that the public has largely been unaware of and excluded from discussion of this threat. The group's founding rationale centers on what it calls enhanced potential pandemic pathogens (ePPP) research — work that enhances potential pandemic pathogens to make them more dangerous than their natural counterparts. Biosafety Now argues that such research poses existential risks to humanity and provides few, if any, benefits for science, medicine, public health, or national security. It is convinced that public health and safety require all such research to be subject to independent external controls rather than trusted to the oversight of the scientists performing it or the organizations funding it. From its inception, Biosafety Now has operated as an advocacy and public-education organization. It maintains a website with sections on the threat of pandemic pathogens, lab accidents and mishaps, the question of whether COVID-19 was a lab accident, and its proposed solutions. It publishes essays, petitions and letters, newsletters, and press releases, and it runs a Substack newsletter and hosts X Spaces. Its leadership team includes individuals with backgrounds in biomedicine, mathematics, public health, public policy, law, social science, and public advocacy; the website names Simon Wain-Hobson and Alex Washburne among its leadership. Biosafety Now is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity that relies on donations to fund its advocacy. Its stated vision is a future free of lab-generated pandemics, where reckless research on pathogens is ended and public trust in science is restored. Its mission is to demand national- and international-level restrictions, regulations, and oversight to reduce the risks to the public posed by ePPP research. The organization says it works through education as well as local, state, national, and international advocacy in partnership with communities that have mobilized or want to mobilize to protect themselves and the future of humanity. It seeks comprehensive, legally binding oversight at both national and international levels to foresee, regulate, and ultimately minimize the risks of research with potentially dangerous pathogens. A recurring element of Biosafety Now's public messaging is its focus on laboratory accidents and mishaps. The organization disputes claims that lab accidents are extremely rare, citing annual records of the CDC/USDA Select Agent Program, which it says receives roughly 200 reports of theft, loss, or release of Biological Select Agents and Toxins (BSAT) per year — an average of about four such incidents per week in US bioweapons-agents labs. Biosafety Now uses these figures to argue for independent external controls on high-risk pathogen research.

• Biosafety Now is established as a new non-governmental organization with an international leadership team.

• The organization launches its website at biosafetynow.org, outlining its vision, mission, and advocacy platform.

• Biosafety Now begins publishing essays, petitions and letters, newsletters, and press releases, and launches a Substack newsletter.

• The organization hosts X Spaces discussions on biosafety and biosecurity topics.

A non-governmental advocacy organization demanding legally binding national and international oversight of research on enhanced potential pandemic pathogens, positioning itself as an independent public-interest voice against self-regulation by researchers.

• Biosafety Now! advocacy platform

  Advocacy initiative calling for strengthened biosafety oversight of pathogen research.

• Biosecurity Now! advocacy platform

  Advocacy initiative focused on biosecurity measures and controls.

• Biorisk Management Now! advocacy platform

  Advocacy initiative promoting comprehensive biorisk management for dangerous pathogen research.

• Substack newsletter

  Regular newsletter publishing analysis and commentary on biosafety and biosecurity issues.

• Petitions and letters

  Public petitions and open letters advocating for policy change on pathogen research oversight.

1. 1Biosafety Now - Biosafety Nowbiosafetynow.org
2. 2Who We Are - Biosafety Nowbiosafetynow.org
3. 3About Us - Biosafety Nowbiosafetynow.org
4. 4Lab Accidents and Mishaps - Biosafety Nowbiosafetynow.org
5. 5Biosafety Nowwikidata.org