The CBF is a pilot project: Its goal is to bring together biologists with scholars in the social sciences and humanities, including anthropologists and philosophers, to better understand how biological knowledge and capability are shaping human affairs in the 21st century.

Questions of interest to the CBF include: how are global health initiatives changing the ways in which NGOs, nations, and research organizations interact?  What are the significance and plausible consequences of the increasing use of agricultural biomass as feedstocks for fuel and chemical production?  How might these affect food production, and the security of human populations?  What combinations of technical and other capabilities lead to successful interventions in the trajectory of such developments, and what are the costs and consequences of "success"? 

A core activity of the Center is the development of tools for ethical thinking and practice that scientists and others whose work creates the future can use to inform and guide their ongoing endeavors. At the interface of security and ethics, we have foused on the H5N1 controversy. See the timeline we developed about these events in scrolling or text form, or download a pdf here, see also this repository of primary documents (both also posted on this site under Papers).

The Center also sponsors scholarly activities at the University of Washington, on topics ranging from the intergenerational ethical obligations of climate change to how rhetoric shapes scientific perception and direction of genome sequencing.

Other topics of inquiry at the CBF may include changes in means of drug discovery and vaccine development, the effects of 20th century biological warfare efforts on contemporary management of infectious disease, and related questions from scientists and scholars who are interested in working with us.