Engineered Pathogens and Unnatural Biological Weapons: The Future Threat of Synthetic Biology.
Variola (Smallpox) virus . Engineered Pathogens and Unnatural Biological Weapons: The Future Threat of Synthetic Biology . The following is a quote from Paul Cruickshank, Editor in Chief , of CTC Sentinel, in their latest issue: JULY/AUGUST 2020 · VOLUME 11, ISSU E 8. ‘ The COVID-19 pandemic has renewed concerns over bioterror threats, with Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently warning that a bioterror attack involving a pathogen with a high death rate “is kind of the nightmare scenario” facing the planet. In this month’s feature article, J. Kenneth Wickiser, Kevin J. O’Donovan, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Washington, Major Stephen Hummel, and Colonel F. John Burpo assess the potential future threat posed by the malevolent use of synthetic biology. They write that synthetic biology “is a rapidly developing and diffusing technology. The wide availability of the protocols, procedures, and techniques necessary to produce and modify living organisms combined wi...