> We have a limited set of tools that can be used to manipulate a gene sequence You can go on the web and buy whatever DNA or RNA sequence you want out of the

> We have a limited set of tools that can be used to manipulate a gene sequence You can go on the web and buy whatever DNA or RNA sequence you want out of the comfort of your bedroom. The cost is down to around 10 cents per base pair, so if you want to order COVID19 RNA, you're looking at around $3k. Over the past two decades, some genomics work has moved out of million-dollar labs to at-home hobby projects for people with Google SWE salaries (indeed, the costs are less of a barrier than the required advanced knowledge; molecular biology isn't easy). You even have undergrad genetic engineering competitions like iGEM. Moore's Law is alive and kicking for gene synthesis. It's also alive and well for genetic sequencing; the cost of sequencing the human genome has fallen by a factor of a million in the past two decades. > And what should be the punishment for ill-informed and internet commenters who attempt to deceive through either malice or ignorance? What penalty should we apply to your crimes against Truth? I think most people who deceived about COVID19 did so from ill-informed attempts at benevolence. But to answer your question: There's a difference between a private citizen, and someone employed with my taxes. * I strongly feel that I would like to be able to expect that my government will not lie to me, at least not willfully. * I have mixed feelings about regulating private free speech.