The Biollywood Podcast

In this episode of The Biollywood Podcast, the Director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense at the Atlantic Council, Asha M. George, Associate Director for Research, J.T. O'Brien, Associate Director for Government Relations and Policy, Robert Bradley, and Wendy Villalta, Assistant Director for Operations, discuss the 2022 foreign language film "Virus 32" and its implications for disease outbreaks, transmission, and mutation. 

Premise: A virus spreads throughout the city, causing the infected to become vicious hunters. Iris and her daughter become caught in the massacre, discovering 32-second periods of calm before each attack.

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense is within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at Atlantic Council. Learn more about the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense here.

Follow us on X (@Biodefensecomm), LinkedIn, and Facebook for more updates.

Email us with recommendations on what to review next: biollywood@biodefensecommission.org

In this episode of The Biollywood Podcast, the Director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense at the Atlantic Council, Asha M. George, Associate Director for Research, J.T. O'Brien, and Associate Director for Government Relations and Policy, Robert Bradley, discuss the 2005 film "Doom" - starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Karl Urban - and its implications for astrobiodefense, biosafety and biosecurity, and genetic modification.

Premise: In the year 2046, the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC) operates a top-secret research facility on Mars called Olduvai. When a distress signal reports a containment breach, a squad of Marines known as the Rapid Response Tactical Squad (RRTS) is deployed via "the Ark" (a teleportation gate) to secure the facility.

They arrive to find the staff slaughtered or mutated into grotesque creatures. The threat isn't supernatural, but biological: an ancient Martian "24th Chromosome" (C24) that has been weaponized as a serum. The squad must contain the threat before it can spread to Earth via the Ark, leading to a brutal conflict between duty, ethics, and survival.

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense is within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at Atlantic Council. Learn more about the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense here.

Follow us on X (@Biodefensecomm), LinkedIn, and Facebook for more updates.

Email us with recommendations on what to review next: biollywood@biodefensecommission.org

In this episode of The Biollywood Podcast, the Director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense at the Atlantic Council, Dr. Asha M. George, Associate Director for Research, J.T. O'Brien, and Associate Director for Government Relations and Policy, Robert Bradley, discuss S02E10 of NCIS: Origins, Lean on Me. We are joined by special guest, Patrick Cady, who directed the episode.

Patrick is an Emmy-nominated cinematographer-turned-director known for his visual storytelling on acclaimed series like Bosch and Insecure. He began his career working with legendary filmmaker John Sayles on films like Passion Fish and Sunshine State, and his cinematography credits include the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Girlfight. As a director, he has helmed pivotal episodes of Rectify, Interrogation, and the series finale of Bosch.

Premise: A Marine captain, Brian Polanco, stumbles into the NIS office at Camp Pendleton exhibiting symptoms that initially appear to be intoxication. When Gibbs attempts to place him in the drunk tank, Polanco begins seizing violently. Paramedics arrive and suspect the Lenkah virus—a fictional pathogen with a 95% mortality rate that last appeared in 1924—triggering a full office quarantine and lockdown. With Mike Franks sidelined by a thrown-out back and most of the team trapped at a bar offsite, Gibbs finds himself as the senior agent in charge during what appears to be a bioterrorism event.

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense is within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at Atlantic Council. Learn more about the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense here.

Follow us on X (@Biodefensecomm), LinkedIn, and Facebook for more updates.

Email us with recommendations on what to review next: biollywood@biodefensecommission.org

In this episode of The Biollywood Podcast, the Director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense at the Atlantic Council, Dr. Asha M. George, Associate Director for Research, J.T. O'Brien, and Associate Director for Government Relations and Policy, Robert Bradley, discuss the 2026 Apple TV+ series, Pluribus.

Premise:
Pluribus begins with astronomers at the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico detecting a mysterious signal originating 600 light-years from Earth, repeating every 78 seconds. The signal is initially mistaken for Morse code split four ways, but scientists eventually decode it as the four nucleotides of RNA forming a complete genetic sequence for a novel lysogenic virus. Researchers synthesize the RNA sequence, convert it to DNA using reverse transcriptase, and inject it into laboratory animals at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). When the animal testing appears inconclusive, a scientist is bitten by an infected lab rat, triggering the first human infection. 

 

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense is within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at Atlantic Council. Learn more about the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense here.

Follow us on X (@Biodefensecomm), LinkedIn, and Facebook for more updates.

Email us with recommendations on what to review next: biollywood@biodefensecommission.org

In this episode of The Biollywood Podcast, the Director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense at the Atlantic Council, Dr. Asha M. George, Associate Director for Research, J.T. O'Brien, and Associate Director for Government Relations and Policy, Robert Bradley, discuss the 1999 film, The Matrix, and its implications for the convergence of artificial intelligence and biological science.

Premise: In a dystopian future, a war between humanity and sentient machines has ended in humanity’s total defeat. The machines, cut off from solar energy after humans scorched the sky in a desperate last-ditch military operation, turned to the most readily available alternative power source: human beings. Billions of humans are now grown in vast fields of pods, their bodies harvested for bioelectric and thermal energy while their minds are kept pacified inside a neural-interactive simulation called the Matrix—a shared virtual reality modeled on late-20th-century civilization.

The film follows Thomas Anderson, also known as Neo, a computer programmer who senses something is wrong with the world. He is contacted by Morpheus, a legendary freed human who believes Neo is “The One”—a prophesied figure destined to end the war with the machines. Neo is unplugged from the Matrix, shown the horrifying truth of human enslavement, and trained to fight the machines’ enforcement programs (Agents) within the simulation.

The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense is within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at Atlantic Council. Learn more about the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense here.

Follow us on X (@Biodefensecomm), LinkedIn, and Facebook for more updates.

Email us with recommendations on what to review next: biollywood@biodefensecommission.org