Geez, I don't
like sound of this:
Mail-Order CRISPR Kits Allow Absolutely Anyone to Hack DNA
Experts
debate what amateur scientists could accomplish with the powerful DNA
editing tool—and whether its ready availability is cause for concern
It's from Scientific American, and ends with an unknown number of DNA hacking scientists saying it's nothing to be to be
too worried about:
Finally, what about the nightmare scenario: Is CRISPR so easy to use
that we need to worry about biohackers—either accidentally or
intentionally—creating dangerous pathogens? Carroll and others think
that the danger of putting CRISPR in the hands of the average person is
relatively low. “People have imagined scenarios where scientists could
use CRISPR to generate a virulent pathogen, ” he says.
“How big is the risk? It’s not zero, but it’s fairly small.” Gersbach
agrees. “Right now, it’s difficult to imagine how it’d be dangerous in a
real way,” he explains, “If you want to do harm, there are much easier
and simpler ways than using this highly sophisticated genetic editing
technique.”
Scientists in fields like this have an incentive to downplay risk, so if they actually use words like "relatively low", it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence...
1 comment:
I think you'll find the utilisation of this technology is lot more complex than presented. It's not a product from Ikea and even that would confuse most terrorists.
Post a Comment