3 ms·

I'd go all in on the most nefarious - hacked data could be used to design a virus that only kills people with one particular genetic trait. I'm pretty sure the

I'd go all in on the most nefarious - hacked data could be used to design a virus that only kills people with one particular genetic trait. I'm pretty sure there's an uber dystopian horror movie in there somewhere.

Centigonal 3y ago
There's a dystopian sci-fi tactical espionage action game (from 1998!) that features exactly this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTjI2LV0Tus&t=56 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTjI2LV0Tus&t=56
- RocketOne 3y ago
  Ah. Its nice to know my worst nightmare has already been in a video game from 25 years ago. I guess I'll just go outside and stare at squirrels for awhile.
alistairSH 3y ago
The Silo series of books was based around a similar plot device. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo_(series) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo_(series)
heavyset_go 3y ago
This isn't even dystopian sci-fi, nations already investigate bioweapons that are designed to target only certain racial groups.
- dekhn 3y ago
  Do you have a credible source for this claim?
  - heavyset_go 3y ago
    - https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Directors-Select-Articles/Ethnic-Weapons/ https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Dir... - https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-coming-threat-of-a-genetically-engineered-ethnic-bioweapon/ https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-coming-threat-of-a... There's also an outline with references here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_bioweapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_bioweapon
    - dekhn 3y ago
      I don't see anything credible there about nation-states currently engaging in this research. I think generally it does not appear to be a productive line of research.
      - heavyset_go 3y ago
        I said "investigate", and all of the links are about nations investigating such bioweapons.
maxerickson 3y ago
Preventing a database from existing isn't gonna stop people with that capability. If they can make the targeted virus, they can forcefully obtain enough genetic samples from their targets to determine the information they need to do so. The idea that a small technical road block will protect society from horrors is misguided. Like it wasn't great for people that were identified in government registers as being in groups that the Nazis targeted, but they would have made up targets just the same of there were no government registers.

Centigonal 3y ago

There's a dystopian sci-fi tactical espionage action game (from 1998!) that features exactly this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTjI2LV0Tus&t=56 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTjI2LV0Tus&t=56

RocketOne 3y ago
Ah. Its nice to know my worst nightmare has already been in a video game from 25 years ago. I guess I'll just go outside and stare at squirrels for awhile.

alistairSH 3y ago

The Silo series of books was based around a similar plot device. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo_(series) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo_(series)

heavyset_go 3y ago

This isn't even dystopian sci-fi, nations already investigate bioweapons that are designed to target only certain racial groups.

dekhn 3y ago
Do you have a credible source for this claim?
- heavyset_go 3y ago
  - https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Directors-Select-Articles/Ethnic-Weapons/ https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Dir... - https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-coming-threat-of-a-genetically-engineered-ethnic-bioweapon/ https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-coming-threat-of-a... There's also an outline with references here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_bioweapon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_bioweapon
  - dekhn 3y ago
    I don't see anything credible there about nation-states currently engaging in this research. I think generally it does not appear to be a productive line of research.
    - heavyset_go 3y ago
      I said "investigate", and all of the links are about nations investigating such bioweapons.

maxerickson 3y ago

Preventing a database from existing isn't gonna stop people with that capability. If they can make the targeted virus, they can forcefully obtain enough genetic samples from their targets to determine the information they need to do so. The idea that a small technical road block will protect society from horrors is misguided. Like it wasn't great for people that were identified in government registers as being in groups that the Nazis targeted, but they would have made up targets just the same of there were no government registers.