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> 70% of the world’s population was killed by NEOBOLA-26 but at least they signed the EULA. I’m making fun, but this is one class of knowledge I’m worried abou
by sockaddr 4y ago
> 70% of the world’s population was killed by NEOBOLA-26 but at least they signed the EULA.
I’m making fun, but this is one class of knowledge I’m worried about. However, outlawing it doesn’t seem like a solution either.
- Cthulhu_ 4y agoI mean if you're worried about bioterrorism, I'm sure there are plenty of ways and means to do so outside of convenient packages like this for someone with enough motivation. I mean with enough motivation anyone (assuming they pass a background check) can pursue a degree in biology / genetics, get a job with access to a lab, and do the thing.
- nivenkos 4y agoIt's also really difficult though. Just like people building their own nuclear bombs hasn't been a major worry. The real issue is the CIA, FSB, etc. doing it deliberately.
- staunton 4y agoThere's a difference. Building a nuke is actually really easy [1]. The hard part is getting and enriching uranium. For the bio stuff, you only need some lab equipment, where there's no reason why it wouldn't get really cheap and easy to procure. [1]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jun/24/usa.science https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jun/24/usa.science
- nivenkos 4y agoBut it still took the best physicists in the world with unlimited resources almost a decade to do so... That article is a nice thought experiment, but they didn't actually build it.
- jobs_throwaway 4y agoLike many things, doing something for the first time with no proven blueprint is a lot harder than re-creating a process that you know works. And there's plenty of leaked/released information out there that a sufficiently interested party would very easily be able to obtain most of the steps/schematics necessary. It's a little outdated at this point, but McPhee's 'The Curve of Binding Energy' is a fascinating read on this topic
- karaterobot 4y ago> The hard part is getting and enriching uranium. That is an important part though.
- jobs_throwaway 4y agobuilding your own nuke (at least from scratch) requires orders of magnitude more industrial might than biohacking
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Idiot_in_Vain 4y agoThe same stupid argument applies to anyone who orders the kit - why not persue a degree in biology and get a job in a lab instead. Obviously the kit has many advantages. A terrorist organization, like ISIS can get their hands on a few kits, gather a few dozen smart guys and ask them to work day and night on creating say a "better" COVID virus they can spread in the West. They won't have problems supplying test subjects to the team...
- epups 4y agoAlright but let's slow down a bit here... This kit is about plants, and it doesn't give you absolutely anything that those "few dozen smart guys" wouldn't have access to in a regular university. Meaning, if you have the inclination and resources to produce a deadly virus, this kit does not make it any easier.
- Idiot_in_Vain 4y agoYeah, a "regular university" signs up students right off the streets of Siria.
- oldgradstudent 4y agoThese are called regular Syrian universities and there are plenty of those.
- Idiot_in_Vain 4y agoSure, and they are happy to sign up any number of ISIS members?
- oldgradstudent 4y agoThe usual practice in illegal organizations (such as ISIS in Syrian state controllerld areas) is not to freely disclose member affiliations. To a lesser extent, there are some sort of universities in rebel controlled areas. No idea how good/bad they are.
- eternityforest 4y agoWe need some way to detect germs in realtime, without knowing in advance what they are, so people can evacuate buildings that have them. There's gotta be some miniature electron microscope that can look at viruses in the air or something, right?
- JPLeRouzic 4y agoIt may be possible to detect Covid-19 with Nanopore's Minion? Rapid and Accurate Detection of SARS Coronavirus 2 by Nanopore Amplicon Sequencing. Xiao-Xiao Li and al. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35464969/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35464969/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanopore_sequencing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanopore_sequencing
- Georgelemental 4y agoElectron microscopes can only see atoms with lots of electrons (high atomic number). So to observe a biological specimen with one, you need to coat the sample with heavy metals first
- hoseja 4y agoOnly Fauci-funded Chinese laboratories have the right to manipulate pathogens!
- TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago*Taxpayer funded
- Sporktacular 4y ago* Sovereign Citizen funded
- TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y agoThat's an oxymoron.
- Sporktacular 4y agoWouldn't be if it weren't for all that big gummint.
- sigtstp 4y agoThis offering seems largely educational, this stuff being what people learn in bioengineering degrees anyway. And this stuff isn't really plug-and-play :) Most beginner attempts will simply fail (e.g. dead target organism, no change to desired traits, etc.). Any serious bioengineer (incl. ill-intentioned ones) would have more advanced equipment and knowledge anyway.
- zzbzq 4y agoWhy isn't outlawing it the solution? Seems like a pretty good solution
- TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y agoBecause outlawing stuff shifts incentives to favour the most violent entrepeneurs? Outlawing does not decrease demand, making stuff real expensive, so everyone wants to sell or buy it, but there's no legal protection against fraud or theft, so to meet demand, violence must escalate. Just look back at prohibition, the drug war, outlawing guns in Britain eskalating knife violence, etc. The way to handle the problem is not by outlawing products,but by reducing demand for them. Why do people want drugs and alcohol? Generally to self-medicate. Mitigate the underlying causes,and watch demand evaporate.
- moffkalast 4y agoThen it just gets made in secret by malicious actors without any kind of safety in mind.
- SuoDuanDao 4y agoif it's legal, it's still only available to individuals with the time, work ethic and intelligence to get good at it, the overlap of those with bad actors is probably fairly small. If it's outlawed, it's only available to moneyed interests that need to practice institutional capture. The overlap of those with bad actors, well...