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If you are an expert in virology I’d love to know the answer to this question: If given the right resources, would it be feasible to synthesize a pandemic-indu
by reilly3000 5y ago
If you are an expert in virology I’d love to know the answer to this question:
If given the right resources, would it be feasible to synthesize a pandemic-inducing virus in a lab setting?
If so, a general question: why haven’t the villains of the world done so already?
- shadilay 5y agoThe villains already have. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_warfare#Anti-personnel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_warfare#Anti-person...
- jpollock 5y agoIsn't the stated response from several countries that the response to something like that is nuclear?
- MaxDPS 5y agoAt the moment, that type of research takes a lot of resources. In the future, I’m sure that will change, which is a bit worrying.
- mdorazio 5y agoNot an expert, but this has more or less already been done [1] and led to a temporary moratorium on this research. To your last question, releasing such a thing would basically assure your (and your people's) own destruction in addition to your target's, as we've seen by how difficult it has been to control COVID. So you'd have to want everyone dead, and generally speaking the people who would be willing to actually do something like that don't have the resources and knowledge to make it happen. [1] https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2012/06/fouchier-study-reveals-changes-enabling-airborne-spread-h5n1 https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2012/06/fouchier...
- BeFlatXIII 5y agoTo answer your final question: That’s more of a doomsday terrorist fantasy than viable bio weapons research.
- reilly3000 5y agoI wonder if a viral pandemic would satisfy some fantasy of a climate activist.
- mannanj 5y agoWhat if they already have? What if COVID-19 was that virus?