Bio-Terror Threat, on Sale Now! -- Bio, Soc
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New Scientist is now offering podcasts of interviews and reports related to the magazine's latest issues. One curious point raised in a past podcast is the fact that gene sequences can be ordered from companies online, which means that someone with a valid email address who knew what they were doing could get a plague custom-sequenced by these organizations. Though, if they wanted to avoid suspicion, they would want to order the sequence in pieces and put it together themselves.
Possible safeguards for this system are discussed in the interview.
Honestly, this isn't the first time I've heard a discussion of how (relatively) easy it would be to create a formidable bio-weapon. And I still think the kind of damage a smart, dedicated individual or small group could do makes it imperative that serious participants in human enhancement research give some thought as to how society is going to protect itself from ruthless, fanatical and/or psychotic people who have augmented minds. If Al Qaeda were over run with members who could build weapons of mass destruction, we would be living in a very different world today.
Yet it hasn't taken enhanced intelligence for terrorists, drug cartels, warlords, pirates and criminals of every stripe and background (including white collar) to create tremendous suffering in the world in recent years. So what happens when the capacity to create bio-weapons becomes widespread? When the capacity to do even more devastating things becomes widespread?
That's the kind of game plan you want to have figured out before every lunatic on Earth has their own pandemic and the trained pigeons to distribute it.
Future Imperative
New Scientist is now offering podcasts of interviews and reports related to the magazine's latest issues. One curious point raised in a past podcast is the fact that gene sequences can be ordered from companies online, which means that someone with a valid email address who knew what they were doing could get a plague custom-sequenced by these organizations. Though, if they wanted to avoid suspicion, they would want to order the sequence in pieces and put it together themselves.
Possible safeguards for this system are discussed in the interview.
Honestly, this isn't the first time I've heard a discussion of how (relatively) easy it would be to create a formidable bio-weapon. And I still think the kind of damage a smart, dedicated individual or small group could do makes it imperative that serious participants in human enhancement research give some thought as to how society is going to protect itself from ruthless, fanatical and/or psychotic people who have augmented minds. If Al Qaeda were over run with members who could build weapons of mass destruction, we would be living in a very different world today.
Yet it hasn't taken enhanced intelligence for terrorists, drug cartels, warlords, pirates and criminals of every stripe and background (including white collar) to create tremendous suffering in the world in recent years. So what happens when the capacity to create bio-weapons becomes widespread? When the capacity to do even more devastating things becomes widespread?
That's the kind of game plan you want to have figured out before every lunatic on Earth has their own pandemic and the trained pigeons to distribute it.
Future Imperative
posted by Ralph Cerchione | Friday, February 03, 2006
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