The last few paragraphs describe how they basically created unstoppable super-bacteria that are untargetable by any existing medication or immune response, what could go wrong? Let’s hope their lab safety is uncharacteristically excellent.
It is limited though. They can't do worse than destroying all life as we know it. Not very comforting.
Won't hear anybody complaining, so...
AI: "Solution found"
1) is it functional? Yes -> step 2
2) is it cytotoxic? (kills everything, for example by dissolving cell membranes) No -> goto step 3
3) is it neurotoxic? (prevents neurons from working) No -> goto step 4
4 to 199) is it ...toxic?
200) proceed to in vitro testing
Someone made a paper ... what happens if you just reverse steps 2 through 199? Start with any old protein, and keep changing it to display as many different kinds of toxicity as possible.
Answer: This just works. Works very well, since we know computational tests for a whole lot of toxicities, and at least a few of them are differentiable.
So you can just assume essentially every country has already done this and tested it.
Fortunately this is not such a huge issue. The challenge is not making poisons, the challenge is spreading them effectively (without ...). Some of these proteins would at least need contact between a large drop of the protein and your skin. Most would need to be injected to kill you. So ...
And we know plenty of non-protein molecules, much easier and faster to make, available in industrial quantities without much checking, that are about as bad as the worst of these proteins.
Also: there are radioactive substances sold on Amazon that'll kill you slowly and painfully just being near you.
https://unicri.it/sites/default/files/2021-12/21_dual_use.pd...
It's very likely that every "prion-capable" protein is that way for a strategic reason (e.g. Alzheimer's protein is likely that way to ensnare viruses before they can further damage brains).
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002192581...
Not every protein needs to be capable of misfolding, life would be very metastable if every protein were, so, no, you will not turn into a "puddle of goo" via an engineered prion. It might really suck, and your brain (or pick organ here) would get holes drilled in it over the course of years. But not hours.
In any case, my previous comments were intended jokingly, they weren't submissions to Methods in Molecular Biology.