Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. The book is structured as a “scenario” that combines historical material with a speculative narrative. How did this format affect your reading experience? How did the rapid progression of the crisis shape your reading experience?

2. How did this fact-based scenario compare to purely fictional pandemic stories you may have encountered, like Max Brooks’s World War Z or films such as Contagion? How did Jacobsen’s use of real government plans, historical events, and expert testimony affect your response to the scenario?

3. What single scene or revelation in the book left the most lasting impression on you after you finished it? Was it the design of the chimera weapon, the emerging crisis on Skid Row, or the bleak, quiet world described in the epilogue?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. The bioweapon is designed to undermine trust in government and medicine. Think about a time you had to rely on official information during a public crisis. How does that experience color your reading of the panic and conspiracy theories that spread so quickly in the book?

2. The strain on the 911 system and the overwhelming pressure on hospitals are key failure points in the book. Has reading this scenario changed the way you think about the resilience of your own community’s essential services?

3. An internet influencer livestreams the unfolding crisis in Los Angeles and circulates claims that intensify public distrust. Where have you observed social media shaping the public’s understanding of a real-world crisis in a similar way, for better or for worse?

4. The book’s epilogue imagines survival in a society shaped by isolation, distrust, and the threat of violence. Which values or relationships would matter most to you in such circumstances, and why?

5. Paul Berg’s creation of recombinant DNA highlights the dual-use problem: a scientific breakthrough can have beneficial and harmful applications. Can you think of another technology in our world today that presents a similar challenge? Where would you draw the line between its potential benefits and risks? 

6. Think about a situation in which you knew about a possible risk but still felt unprepared for it. How did that experience shape your response to the preparedness failures Jacobsen depicts in the scenario?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The U.S. outbreak begins on Skid Row, a community largely invisible to the nation’s public health surveillance systems. What does Jacobsen’s choice to begin the U.S. outbreak there suggest about the relationship between social inequality and national security?

2. As Jacobsen moves from the secret, state-sponsored Soviet Biopreparat program to the global expansion of high-containment laboratories and gain-of-function research, how does her portrayal of biological risk change?

3. Jacobsen links the post-9/11 expansion of the “biodefense industrial complex” to the rapid growth of high-containment laboratories with limited oversight. In what ways might efforts to defend against biological threats inadvertently create new vulnerabilities?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Jacobsen acts as an analyst and narrator, blending historical research and expert testimony with a speculative timeline. If you are familiar with Nuclear War: A Scenario (2024), how does this narrative choice compare with Jacobsen’s approach there? How does this combination of documented material and speculation shape the book’s warning?

2. What significance does the term “chimera” acquire over the course of the book? How does its association with both a genetically engineered pathogen and a mythical hybrid contribute to Jacobsen’s portrayal of the weapon?

3. How does Jacobsen portray the tension between the protective purpose of high-containment laboratories and the risks associated with the research conducted within them?

4. Jacobsen uses a narrative technique that cuts between high-level government agencies using satellite surveillance and the ground-level experiences of people caught in the outbreak. What is the effect of this constant shift in scale?

5. Think about the book’s title, Biological War. After reading the scenario, how do you interpret the meaning of “war” in the title? To what extent does it encompass conflict involving the pathogen, nations, and citizens as society collapses?

6. Near the end of the scenario, the president explains that the chimera was designed to destroy trust in medicine and links it to a broader strategy of fostering public distrust. How does his message bring together Jacobsen’s exploration of social trust and institutional failure?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine you’re a senior government official tasked with developing a public health campaign after officials discover the chimera mechanism but before the information about antibiotics has been made public. What would your key message be, and how would you try to maintain public order and trust?

2. Imagine you are designing a new national pandemic drill based on the specific failures depicted in this book. Which vulnerability would you make the focus of the simulation, such as the breakdown of the 911 system, the spread of disinformation online, or gaps in protecting vulnerable populations? Why?

3. The 1975 Asilomar Conference established early safety guidelines for recombinant DNA but did not address biological warfare. If a similar conference were held today for a new technology like AI or advanced gene editing, what is one difficult topic you believe would be essential to discuss?