Experts meet in Washington to discuss how to prevent the next deadly biological threat

WASHINGTON D.C.—It is only a “matter of time” until the world finds itself racing to protect itself against the next pathogen.

So on Wednesday, a group about 200 experts from government agencies, universities and private companies who attended the National Biodefense Summit to talk about how to stop it.

Gathered under the angular-domed auditorium of the National Academies of Sciences, they listened intently as some of the nation’s top scientific officials laid out the terrifying, but possible, scenarios. Pandemic flu. State-sponsored or terrorist use of biological weapons. Emerging infectious diseases outbreaks.