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If someone really, really wants to do it they'll buy a second hand oligonucleotide synthesizer and the reagents, and do the larger scale assembly the old fashio
by anonymouskimmer 3y ago
If someone really, really wants to do it they'll buy a second hand oligonucleotide synthesizer and the reagents, and do the larger scale assembly the old fashioned way.
Still, it's worth keeping the barrier of entry higher than just being able to order it.
As per the homomorphic encryption discussed earlier, you can easily avoid the 'need' for this by having federal governments operate the screening tools.
- jefftk 3y ago> it's worth keeping the barrier of entry higher than just being able to order it. Exactly! Keeping groups with lots of resources from synthesizing harmful things isn't a battle we can win (and in a decade or so biological design tools will make scanning synthesis orders a very weak precaution) but raising the bar means fewer people are in a position to cause large-scale damage. (Long term we also need to make society more robust to biological attacks, with better monitoring, better PPE, and faster countermeasures.)