Synthetic Biology Raises Risk of New Bioweapons
June 20th, 2018When “it” finally happens, my complete lack of surprise will coincide with a sense of wonder that “it” didn’t happen sooner.
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Via: Guardian:
The rapid rise of synthetic biology, a futuristic field of science that seeks to master the machinery of life, has raised the risk of a new generation of bioweapons, according a major US report into the state of the art.
Advances in the area mean that scientists now have the capability to recreate dangerous viruses from scratch; make harmful bacteria more deadly; and modify common microbes so that they churn out lethal toxins once they enter the body.
The three scenarios are picked out as threats of highest concern in a review of the field published on Tuesday by the US National Academy of Sciences at the request of the Department of Defense. The report was commissioned to flag up ways in which the powerful technology might be abused, and to focus minds on how best to prepare.
Surely the endgame here is race-specific bioweapons? You know, so that if an ethnically homogeneous enemy like, say, China, was gaining the upper hand in a war, they would suddenly find themselves with an incurable, fatal cough.