On Wednesday 14 May 2025, Bureau Biosecurity will be organising the first international biosecurity symposium. Internationally renowned speakers will talk about biosecurity and dual-use.

As in previous years, the Biosecurity Knowledge Day attracted many enthusiastic participants this year. The Knowledge Day focused a lot on Artificial Intelligence.

During the Biosecurity Knowledge Day, the Biosecurity Escaperoom was launched. In the escaperoom, participants take on the challenge of solving a biosecurity scenario.

In the fall, several publications were published that are important for biosecurity. The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI-bio) published a report on the management of risks of biodesign tools.

Nowadays (almost) every employee has a smartphone in their pocket. But have you ever thought about who could potentially have access to the information on your smartphone?

The Biosecurity Office regularly attends meetings at home and abroad with the aim of sharing knowledge, acquiring knowledge and networking.

We recently contributed to an article describing the incidence of potentially bioterrorist agents in the Netherlands. Almost all reported illnesses were linked to a travel history.

The World Health Organization (WHO) published a report in October containing the findings of an international horizon scan on dual-use research of concern (DURC) in the life sciences.

It was exciting until the last minute whether it could go ahead, but we are happy that we can look back on a successful Knowledge Day.

In October, Rik Bleijs was elected co-chair of the steering committee of the International Experts Groups of Biosafety and Biosecurity Regulators (IEGBBR).