It seems like every week there’s another headline about a breakthrough in AIxBio: the intersection of artificial intelligence and biological science. AI is being applied to accomplish feats that sound like science fiction. It’s being used to control laboratories, connect with our brains, and even create new viruses. But is there a lesson to be learned in science fiction? In this episode, host Shane Reader calls up Bruce Wittmann, Principal Applied Scientist at Microsoft, to discuss how AI-powered biological tools work, the ways they’re being applied in biological research, and what he did when he discovered a biological “zero day” vulnerability that could have potentially empowered bad actors.

Read more about Project Paraphrase.

Here are some of the studies, articles, and policy developments we discuss: 

• Scientists bring back extinct horsepox virus in lab, raising important biosecurity questions 
• UPMC and Pitt Researchers Participate in Clinical Trial to Test First-of-its-kind Brain-Computer Interface 
• How We Built the First AI-Generated Genomes 
• AlphaFold: Five years of impact 
• Using a GPT-5-driven autonomous lab to optimize the cost and titer of cell-free protein synthesis 
• Toward De Novo Protein Design from Natural Language 
• Executive Order 14292: Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research 
• 2024 United States Government Policy for Oversight of Dual Use Research of Concern and Pathogens with Enhanced Pandemic Potential 
• 2024 Framework for Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening 
• Strengthening nucleic acid biosecurity screening against generative protein design tools 
• Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026 

Guest

Bruce Wittmann, Ph.D.
Principal Applied Scientist, Microsoft

Host & Producer

Shane Reader, M.A., Ph.D.
2025 - 2026 AAAS Congressional Fellow, United States Senate
2024 - 2025 AAAS Executive Fellow, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, Department of Homeland Security