Vojenské Rozhledy

Czech Military Review

Vojenské rozhledy / Czech Military Review Nr. 1/2025, Vol. XXXIV. (LXVI.): 55-69

Are There Real Global Catastrophic Biological Risks?Reviewed

Aleš Macela Author profile, Vanda Boštíková Author profile
Faculty of Military Medicine, Hradec Králové; University of Defence, Brno, Czech Republic

Biosafety and biodefense (i.e. all countermeasures preventing the spread of biological agents in the environment and population) are on the regular agenda of states and their militaries. Somewhat aside are global catastrophic biological risks (GCBR), which can destroy human society as a biological species. Although a precise definition of what constitutes a global catastrophic biological risk is still being sought, it can be considered the impact of potential global catastrophic risks (GCR) on the social, economic and biological structure of human existence. This implies that GCBRs are a subset of GCRs. It is also open to discussion whether in the case of GCBRs the risk must necessarily be biological agents, from viruses to humans, or whether anthropogenic threats can also be accepted as risk factors, or what the impact must be for a risk to be included under the designation GCBR.

Keywords: Biological Agents; Biosecurity; Global Catastrophic Biological Risks; Population Collapse.

Published: January 1, 2026  Show citation

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Macela, A., & Boštíková, V. (2025). Are There Real Global Catastrophic Biological Risks? Czech Military Review, 106(1), 55-69
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