Trend · rank 216 of 250

Biosecurity & dual-use biology

Biological design and synthesis tools are becoming cheap and widely held, increasing the risk of accident or deliberate release and the national need for screening, laboratory oversight and detection.

National SecurityPeople, health & workbiotechdefenceinstitutions

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass unchanged. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
216of 250
Sensitivity
7.5rank 157
Breadth
1of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
16.8rank 217
Eigenvector
0.2
Betweenness
0.7
Links
4trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
10.9

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
113
Over a year
+31%Rising
Over three years
+11%
Peak
1624 May 2025
Sources
Bothagreement 0.54
Coverage
13languages · 29 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (13 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English63%130+57%
German8%119+33%
Japanese6%123+43%
Spanish5%86−17%
Persian4%97+11%
Russian4%109+12%
Chinese4%95−4%
French2%107+3%
Italian1%105+6%
Portuguese1%111+12%
Arabic1%91−3%
Polish1%93+18%
Ukrainian1%92+8%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Fiji

New Zealand

Australia

Ethiopia

Kenya

China

Ghana

Philippines

Singapore

Tanzania

Uganda

United States

100

20

13

6

4

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

The 12 highest of 29 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English134+25%+77%+48%
EuropeGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish103−8%+18%+14%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 7 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese108−8%+16%+4%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country117+3%+34%−3%
Gulf and Middle EastWikipedia in Persian, Arabic95+3%+6%−12%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 6 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese96−14%−7%+2%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian104−16%+11%+6%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
ArgentinaGoogle75−24%−34%−28%
AustraliaGoogle95+54%−15%−16%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese128−18%+66%+49%
CanadaGoogle144+32%+110%+58%
FranceWikipedia in French107−16%+3%+17%
GermanyWikipedia in German119+0%+33%+53%
IndiaGoogle117+3%+34%−3%
IndonesiaGoogle112+3%+13%−9%
ItalyWikipedia in Italian105−14%+6%+24%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese133−18%+74%+57%
MexicoGoogle89+27%−35%−7%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian109−11%+12%+11%
United KingdomGoogle106+7%+25%+16%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English132+25%+75%+47%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
4 · HighA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
3 · ModerateA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
2 · LowAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
3 · ModerateGlobal health governancePeople, health & work49
3 · ModerateAntimicrobial resistancePeople, health & work104
3 · ModerateAdaptable vaccine platformsPeople, health & work106
3 · ModerateSynthetic biology & biomanufacturingPeople, health & work139