Do you want the zombie apocalypse? Because this is how you get the zombie apocalypse.
US Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses Is Lifted
21–30 of 131 posts
Re: US Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses Is Lifted
#22Trial and error isn't great for this kind of stuff but it works great for AI research. Let's create software that can do genetic engineering of viruses right the first time.
Re: US Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses Is Lifted
#23The intention seems legit, despite the concern. Quote from the article: The pathogen to be modified must pose a serious health threat, and the work must produce knowledge — such as a vaccine — that would benefit humans. Finally, there must be no safer way to do the research.
Those seem reasonable. It's too bad the DEA can't be bothered to apply similar sound judgment to their drug classification schedules.
Re: US Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses Is Lifted
#24Do you want the zombie apocalypse? Because this is how you get the zombie apocalypse.
This also how you get ants.
Re: US Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses Is Lifted
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also, it's regulated and overseen by a review board: > "Now, a government panel will require that researchers show that their studies in this area are scientifically sound and that they will be done in a high-security lab." It does sound like there are concerns. I'm glad that people are keeping their eyes on it. I found this quote interesting as well, regarding publishing the results of such research: > “Physicists l…
The problem with the US keeping their eyes on it is that you can't trust them. All you need is a few lobbyists and rules and regulations seem to be just words. Hell, Net Neutrality had plenty of people "keeping their eyes on it" too.
I'm not sure why this is being downvoted, other than that it isn't precise. I'm general you can't trust regulators or legislators at the federal level.
Re: US Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses Is Lifted
#26Just when I think we can't possibly make any more amazingly stupid decisions on this planet, there we go again
A smart decision would have been to read the article.
Re: US Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses Is Lifted
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also, it's regulated and overseen by a review board: > "Now, a government panel will require that researchers show that their studies in this area are scientifically sound and that they will be done in a high-security lab." It does sound like there are concerns. I'm glad that people are keeping their eyes on it. I found this quote interesting as well, regarding publishing the results of such research: > “Physicists l…
The problem with the US keeping their eyes on it is that you can't trust them. All you need is a few lobbyists and rules and regulations seem to be just words. Hell, Net Neutrality had plenty of people "keeping their eyes on it" too.
If non-reputable agencies wanted to do illegal research, there is literally nothing that would stop them. Look at NSA spying, MKUltra, and the failed nerve gas test that killed hundreds of sheep.
The US still has the largest arsenal of nerve gas in the world, much of it which is still in the queue to be destroyed, much of it still leaking.
Re: US Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses Is Lifted
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's possible that it's very difficult to engineer a virus that can do better than anything nature has come up with. Evolution has had billions of years to try all the attack vectors. A worst case 12 Monkeys-style disaster seems unlikely. But I'm ignorant of this topic. Without handwaving or pointing at the worst case, how much should we worry? Is there any evidence that a genetically enhanced virus can be devastatin…
I believe there is reason for concern w.r.t. modifications of flu viruses, for one thing. That is, they know what makes flu easily transmissible among humans, and they know a bit about how to alter nontransmissible viruses to be more so. Given the belief that things like the 1918 flu are believed to be viruses that made this jump on their own, it's quite reasonable to worry that we could do it in a lab.
Quite. I don't particularly want to find myself living in the midst of a real life remake of The Stand, nor anything close to it[1].
[1] I am clearly not here referring to the supernatural aspects.
Re: US Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses Is Lifted
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's ok, Project Wildfire will be automatically activated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Strain
Wouldn't activating wildfire have been a complete disaster in the book? It's been a long time since I read that. The part about the guy's seizures freaked me out for a while.
"Wildfire" was the protocol for responding to the detection of the alien organism rather than the failsafe that wasn't.
Re: US Federal Ban on Making Lethal Viruses Is Lifted
#30Now, I don't want to seem anti-science or anything, but this seems like a massive disaster just waiting to happen, in light of the incidents that led to this ban and also, even more to the point, the 2001 anthrax attacks.[1] Couldn't they at least restrict this research to labs far away from major population centers? The analogue with software development, I'd say, is when people periodically point out that nuclear p…
It's possible that it's very difficult to engineer a virus that can do better than anything nature has come up with. Evolution has had billions of years to try all the attack vectors. A worst case 12 Monkeys-style disaster seems unlikely. But I'm ignorant of this topic. Without handwaving or pointing at the worst case, how much should we worry? Is there any evidence that a genetically enhanced virus can be devastatin…
If I recall correctly, there is one gene from a particularly lethal virus can be transferred to the flu to make an incredibly deadly nightmare. I don't know why anyone would do that, but it's possible. IIRC this has already been done in a lab. Trying to do the same but targeted seems like something certain types of people would try to do and could easily go awry.