Thursday, December 8, 2011
Gene Assembly = Bioweapons?
Recently at a speech in the Netherlands, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton warned that assembling genes could eventually be linked to biochemical weapons if the data got into the wrong hands. Clinton believes that further research in this field is beneficial as long as the information does not get leaked out. She believes a deadly organism could be created that could cause a global epidemic due to the genetic information becoming available. It has been noted that groups such as al_Qaeda have been trying to recruit scientists capable of growing genetic material which would decrease the time need to create artifical bacteria an viruses. Whether Republican or Democratic, hatred or love for Hilary Clinton, she brings a valid point to the table. If the genomes of Americans become accessable to the public a mass biochemical weapon could be created that easlily targeted specific sites in American genes.
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This is a real issue that I wish others took more serious. In today's age of garage genetics it is very possible for someone to easily produce some form of bio weapon and release it into the populous. It is scary what can be done with today's technology.
ReplyDeleteI would say that we should be less concerned about letting these potential bio-weapons from getting into the wrong hands and more time figuring out how to control and prevent such weapons from being effective. Diseases will most likely always present a threat to humanity, why spend time creating more, why not learn to fight the ones that are present now with the same technology we are already investing?
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