Can Biologist be trusted?

I say no read this and tell me what you think

"Three years ago gene-splicing biologist at the Australian National University in Canberra were seeking a contraceptive vaccine for mice to reduce the pest population. In the process, they unexpectedlly transformed a virus for the rodent diesease mousepox into a highly lethal pathogen that kills 60 percent of infected mice even those that are normally immune. American reaserchers continuing that line of work recently reported at a conference in Geneva that they had produced a similar virus that is nearly 100 percent fatal. The rationale for such experiments is that they might assist the authorites in preparing for bioterror attacks. The counter-argument is that they might aid bioterrorists. (Fortunatley, the changes that make these pox viruses so harmful also seem to render them non-contagious.) Concerns are not restricted to projects with obvious relevance to germ warfare; the broader worry is that even innocuos research might be misused. The policy question becomes: is biology too dangerous to be entrusted to biologist?
Ever since the Manhattan project, national security restrictions have been a fact of life for physicists. The goverment has for the most part, allowed biologist to police themselves. In 1975, for instance, fears surrounding genetic engineering prompted researchers to agree that any such experiments would need to be aproved by qualified Recomninant DNA Advisory Commities (RAC's).
Fears of bioterrorism call for a similar response and the biology community has already taken action. Last October the National Research Council (NRC) issued recommendations for overseeing unclassified experiments that might advance terrosists' work on biological weapons. The new guidlines recommend a multitired regulatory approach. The responsiblities of the RAC would expand to cover all types of plausibly risky experiments, such as those aimed at disabling vaccines, conferring resistance to anti-biotics, enhancing virulence, or turning cells and proteins into weapons. A new advisory board within the department of Health and Human services would offer direction to the RAC's while encouraging dialogue between scientist and security specialists. The report also urges the establishment of an International Forum on Biosecurity to weave a consistance net of biotech safe guards in all countries"

Copyright © 2003 by Scientific American, Inc All rights reserved I personally have received written permission from the publisher to reproduce this part of the January 2004 issue.

for those that do not know the Manhattan project was the development of the four first Atomic weapons Trinity,Fat Man,Little boy and the fourth one has no name and has never been tested or used

biologist cannot be trusted, those few that really know and can use biology and germwarfare are the only ones that can really launch bioterrorism. biologist have done alot for the world, GM foods are a form of biology. they cannot be trusted because there theories and studies can take over the world, one injection of germ can infect the whole world.
biology is apart of AI, they come up with these vaccines and diseases, but they cannot find the reverse of there studies.
http://www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/bioact.html --> this site is the bioterrorism act of 2002 (still applies today) is a long read, but very imformative.

Biologists? lol.

With my current knowledge I can create a virus powerful enough to take out the world, without a cure :) .
This is without an extensive lab (I could use my backyard for this).

With an extensive lab, and my knowledge of Biology (which isn't that extremely much, it can be picked off the internet...) one could create a genetic, rapid generating virus or bacteria capable of whiping out.. anyone.

Reminds me of M:I 2.. With an antidote and a temporal cure, one could take over the world!

HU

you could create it but could you create it properly like hw would this virus travel ex, airborne, carriers such as rats,mosquitos,flies or just people

creating its the easy part but would it work if you make it to deadly then the virus will kill the host before it can be spread and if its airborn you would need some kind of mass production and distributon to cover every continent

and bacteria cannot be created for bio attacks they are the simplest life form (viruses are not true life forms) and do not rapidly destroy immune system or otherwise harm the body purposely what harm is done is simply because they too have to feed themselves

Originally posted by HomoUniversalis
Biologists? lol.

With my current knowledge I can create a virus powerful enough to take out the world, without a cure :) .
This is without an extensive lab (I could use my backyard for this).

With an extensive lab, and my knowledge of Biology (which isn't that extremely much, it can be picked off the internet...) one could create a genetic, rapid generating virus or bacteria capable of whiping out.. anyone.
HU

you could create it, but you HU are not a biologist, and your knowledge is no where near there capability, so whatever you create from*picking up from the internet* can easily be cured by sceinctist. its only when biologist/sceintist create such a disease/germ/vaccine that there is the possibilty of no cure, even if it wasent intended to harm

That's not entirely true, Stalin6025, since no direct cure for botuline has been find, and many toxics remain uncurable, and fatal.

That's the problem with biology. It takes one fool to create a virus and an army of scientific geniuses to develop a cure or remedy.

That's a disturbing thought, concidering I am, according to many members here, a fool :).

HU

your no fool HU

botuline toxins come from soil, i was talking about diseases and germs that have been created by biologists/sceintists that they have created, but made no cure for. these people who create it are ignorant, they create it for the pure purpose to show there intelligence, but when it comes to finding the reverse, it will take them twice as long, i agree with you though HU, any fool can create a crippling virus that can spread, but wheather these fools know the extent of what there creation can cause it another thing. its like script kiddies, they use all made programs, without clear understand and cause crippling effects on computers, but because they dont know the basics, they cant reverse it.

they have recently invested 2.1 million in a vaccine that is known to slow the botuline bacteria from spreading its paralytic thoughout the body.
this vaccine will provide immunologic protection against botulinum neurotoxin serotypes A, B, C, E and F within two years. Within five years, they must also develop a fully protective heptavalent vaccine that will also protect against botulinum neurotoxin serotypes D and G.

Imagine I did something nasty. I took the botuline bacteria and I altered it. I altered it's system, not only to make it more nastier, but also to make it immune.

This is not so hard, as I could do it in a reasonably advanced lab that I can order through the internet.
I'm not rich, but I could just create a company on the name of some old dude, and buy it in his name. Sure, he will probably be ruined, but that's not the problem of a fool/biological terrorist.

Next, we replace some of the DNA/RNA strands of the bacteria with, I don't know, the plague? And there, we have a new virus..
Ready for Global Termination...

Genocide anyone?

HU

Genocide anyone?

why not, its better than sitting here all night/day...
your right HU, its easy to alter an already made disease/germ, but your intelligence would be so much more worshipped if you had to power to launch it, then say "i have the vaccine" and so on.
use it to your advantage.
and if you dare create this, i will come after you and kick your arse then chop down your under your tree of enlightenment for giving you such ideas :p

Indeed, it would lead to a "You did, I din't" kind of argument, nevertheless, we should never underestimate "the villain"...

Who thinks Chemists should not be trusted? Musterd gas, nerve gas.. These guys are Evil!

HU

I think it's not biologists in general, but the ethics of the person him(or her)self, and the govts & other organizations that are controlling the research that are in question. Pure science isn't in & of itself good or bad; it is only the application of the results that can be judged.

Many awful things could be done with the knowledge & information that has been present for many, many moons, but how much has actually happened? And in truth it's not such a cut & dry thing, creating a virus & releasing it into the world. Many of these little critters are highly unstable and/or have a very short lifespan in the environment. Storage & dispersal are serious boundaries. (Thank all that is holy....)

Still, look at the SARS outbreak. I think mankind will face many biological wars against viruses like AIDS and HIV, I just hope all of mankind will be working together. Are we not all equal?

HU

Yes, you've hit that one on the nose.

In that vein, I have a friend whose husband is one of the top AIDS researchers in the world. He started one program that pushes better preventative care for women & children in Africa, including birth control & education about these matters. Interestingly enough, he's a devout Catholic. They're Italian & live in Italy, so I only see them when we vacation together, and I haven't gotten around to asking him about the conflict between his job & his religion. I'm very curious about this though. Religion often tries to step in the way of science. They're not pleasant bedfellows.

Originally posted by HomoUniversalis
Imagine I did something nasty. I took the botuline bacteria and I altered it. I altered it's system, not only to make it more nastier, but also to make it immune.

This is not so hard, as I could do it in a reasonably advanced lab that I can order through the internet.
I'm not rich, but I could just create a company on the name of some old dude, and buy it in his name. Sure, he will probably be ruined, but that's not the problem of a fool/biological terrorist.

Next, we replace some of the DNA/RNA strands of the bacteria with, I don't know, the plague? And there, we have a new virus..
Ready for Global Termination...

Genocide anyone?

HU


its funny you mention the plague (im assuming bubonic) because it was the very first bio weapon way back in 1346 during a mongolian war, there are still up to 2000 cases each year and still in the top 10 list of deadliest diseases, even though it does not kill as fast as others the fact that it can take up to 6 days for any symptoms to show up in that time that person can travel to other cities infecting more, bubonic plague still has one of the worst ways to die Most visible symptom is swelling of the lymph nodes - glands in the neck, armpits and groin.
The lymph nodes swell to size of apples - and turn black - gives the disease its name: the Black Death. Other black spos then appear all over the body.The swellings continue to expand until they eventually burst, with death following soon after.The whole process, from first symptoms of fever and aches, to final expiration, lasts only three or four days.
having apple size swellings burst on my body does not sound like a great way to die,
bubonic plague can actually only be contagious by flea bitting or animals carrying the disease, pneumatic plague a direct result of the bubonic counterpart can be spread in the air simply by an infected person coughing, both pneumatic and bubonic plague have a 100% death rate if not treated by antibiotics,

if the B-plague were altered to an airborne version, and released into a mojor traveling area like an airport ( ex Frankfurt International,Chicago O'hare International) the entire planet could be infected in weeks or days, and because of the limited supply of any vaccine/antibiotics only a small percentage of the population would get treated.

Yes, and a slumbering disease is excellent for this use. With this I mean a disease that takes a while to develop the first symtoms, since no one will realise what is going on.

Altering a bacteria to create spores, like anthracis bacillus, is a very handy way of making it "airborne".

And what you and I mentioned isn't really that hard to do, especially if you are as rich as Osama Bin Laden, or if you like messing with old people...

HU

quess not then

OK, ifas, I have deleted three of the four posts you posted in rapid succession in here, if you continue to spam I will ban you without hesitation, consider this your first and last warning. Read the rules, multiple posts are spam and these posts were also meaningless to the topic at hand, DO NOT DO IT. If you have something more to say, use your friendly edit button. ~Eon