![]() ![]() Laurie told us about how the CIA, FBI, NSC, CDC and WHO are all worried about the new developments in synthetic biology, including the fact that we now have the capability to design microorganisms by sequencing their genes on a computer, email the code to a 3-D printer, and then print them out using nucleotide “ink.” And that wasn’t the scariest part of the episode. The first time she was on, in Zombie Apocalypse Part 2, Laurie warned us about how Vladimir Putin and the Russians not only never completely shut down their biological warfare apparatus, but also don’t let any outside inspectors in to see what they’re up to. She was also on the ground during an outbreak of the Black Plague in India, and inside China during the SARS outbreak. After all, that Pulitzer she won in 1996 was for covering the Ebola outbreak in Zaire… from inside Zaire. If there’s an outbreak someplace in the world, Laurie’s our “go to” expert on it. ![]() ![]() Maybe that has a little bit to do with her specialty: viruses. The only problem with having the Pulitzer prize-winning science journalist on as a StarTalk guest, which we’ve done twice before and are about to do again tomorrow night on StarTalk All-Stars, is that every time we do, she scares the hell out of us. ![]()
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