ARTelevision

Scientists Fear Bioweapons Horror
VOA News
15 Nov 2003, 01:33 UTC


Scientists are telling the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency that advances in biotechnology could be used to create biological weapons worse than any disease known to humans.
A CIA report released Friday, entitled "The Darker Bioweapons Future," details the fears of respected, independent scientists who met at a conference in January.

The report says new genetic engineering technology being used to create cures for disease could also create horrific diseases with no cure. Such weapons could include a "stealth" virus that would lie dormant in a victim for a specific amount of time, or until triggered by the introduction of another, non-lethal substance.

Another biotechnology weapon might only attack people who already have a common malady, such as arthritis, thus crippling a nation with an overwhelming medical emergency.

The report says traditional methods for guarding against weapons of mass destruction may fail against such threats because they could be virtually impossible to trace to their source.

The report does not say which countries or groups might use such bioweapons to threaten the United States.


Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.

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I'm generally a positive-thinking fellow. I try to see the up side of things. But when I think about the relationship between us and the rest of Nature, I sometimes find it difficult to come up with anything more than something like, "If it's possible, someone will do it."

It's sort of like a bunch of kids with chemistry sets. There's always going to be one or three of them who end up making bombs. I'd rather not post this in Philosophy or Politics because my thoughts on this aren't so much a rumination on the nature of people or political realities as they are just a general interest in a discussion about remaining positive in the face of certain inevitabilities regarding human nature.

Yeah that's it. I think we need to remain positive even in the face of what we sort of know to be the case about how some of us tend to make a mess of things.

Do you tend to bounce back from bad news? I'm interested in how you do it. Do you ignore stuff like this? Or do you take a gambler's view on the odds and hope the worst won't happen? Or even if it does, do you still keep looking at the best and brightest of our accomplishments?

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spived2

Eh... It's kinda hard to think about the positives after reading a thing like that. At any time something smaller than an eyelash could wipe out or critically disable thousands, if not millions, of people at any given time. We just have to hope that medical science can come up with something that spreads the same way, only to heal instead of hurt.

To answer your question, though, I usually use denial as a good way to deal with bad news. Deny that it could happen, then hope for the best.

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"This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V." - V

Macheath

I suppose the probability of the worst NOT happening are no worse than the odds surrounding the improbable set of events that led to my individual existence on this earth in the first place.

Thinking of human society itself rather than of my own individual existence - If some complete madman came forward with a lethal supervirus I would tend not to believe his assertion that it would kill "everybody on earth". Biology favours a survival rate, however small. I hope the survivors would put society back together somehow. I hope that they would remember us in some way; maybe even take the good parts and leave the bad parts.

Spanky Johnson

I tend to be very disturbed by stuff like this, and it sticks with me for a while. I think that humanity is ultimately doomed, it's just a question of how and when.

GoldenOuroboros

I remember watching sliders ages ago.. in this episode a biological weapon had been created to only attack the male side of the species.. That's pretty heavy..

I try not to worry about these things and yeah.. if it happens it happens..

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GuttersnipeXL

I read about things like this, and I think to myself, "no shit". I might ponder the possibility of a worlwide massacre for a minute or two, but then the thought passes. I tend to dismiss it as another media constructed fear tactic. Although I'm sure the possibility of such events occuring are very real, I don't dwell on it. I just add it to the list of things that'll "git ya" and move on about my business. That is prettty much how I deal with most things. We should remain positive in all situations, because if we don't, then "the terrosists will have won"...so to speak.

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rainheart

Everytime I read something like that my cynicism kicks in and I think of how bad we're going to have it, thinking to myself about all the people in power in this world and how they got there.

So, how do I deal? Not too well to say the least.

By the way isn't biotech the fastest growing sector or some crap like that? Not too well versed in business, sorry.

yournamehere

It's difficult to remain optimistic when there are so many who deny or disregard the sanctity of life.

It takes so little evil to eradicate the greater good.
One person can destroy the quiet of an entire neighborhood.
One falsehood can turn the longest string of truths into a lie.
One tiny spark can destroy the night.

We're getting to the point where one person can kill the entire human population of our planet. Does anyone doubt he's out there? Does anyone believe there's not thousands of 'him'?

The only thing that might save us is the kind of vigilance that is impossible in a free society.

Well - that's my ray of sunshine for the day

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"If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too."
It won't hurt your fashion sense, either.

Reese

There's not a damn thing I can do to stop it so why worry about it? Living a great life until it happens is far better than living a crappy life worrying about this kind of stuff 24 hours a day.

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denim

Usually, there's nothing to be done, as in this example. Given that situation, I prefer to go on as though I hadn't seen this "news". If you want to be upset about things, feel free, but it's a waste of time to do so. It's much better to spend time being happy, given the choice, I think.

Anyway, this blurb is just speculation about what could happen, not a statement about what will happen. As such, it's useful for those in the know, but for the rest of us who can't do anything about it, there's very little point in our knowing. Think of the MIB's attitude. That's my position, except I'm one of the people who "doesn't want to know", in this case.

spectre

I've lived a lot of my life going against the odds. In general, I realize that these weapons can be developed, and that I'm in a large city that could be a possible target, but I'm not going to live in fear of it. I won't travel around with a biosuit or a gas mask. If it happens it happens. I know that seems cold when it comes to death, but there are many more likely ways dying that would probably come about first.

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No goddamn slave
I will be different" ~ Machine Head

MSD

Terrorists might release a new plague, a meteor might hit us and destroy life, North Korea might decide to nuke us, I could get hit by lightning, I could be shot by a drug dealer who aimed just a bit to the side of his target's head, I could be hit by a bus, I could find out the hard, tragic way that I'm allergic to bees, I might break my ankle and have a clot travel to my brain and get stuck, I could be stabbed to death for the money in my pocket, I could die any time, any place, for any reason.

I don't worry about any of those situations more than the others. If I'm going to die, I'll fight as hard as I can to live, but if I don't make it, I'll leave with the knowledge that I contributed something to the world, and hopefully I'll come back as the guy who finds a cure for cancer or AIDS.

ARTelevision

Alrighty then.
Just to make sure our positivity challenge is as challenging as today's news, here's an update:

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Scientists create a virus that reproduces
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
It is the stuff of science fiction and bioethical debates: The creation of artificial life. Up until now, it's largely been just that.
But an important technical bridge towards the creation of such life was crossed Thursday when genomics pioneer Craig Venter announced that his research group created an artificial virus based on a real one in just two weeks' time.

When researchers created a synthetic genome (genetic map) of the virus and implanted it into a cell, the virus became "biologically active," meaning it went to work reproducing itself.

Venter cautioned that the creation of artificial human or animal life is a long way off because the synthetic bacteriophage — the virus that was created — is a much simpler life form. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria.

The project was funded in part by the Department of Energy, which hopes to create microbes that would capture carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, produce hydrogen or clean the environment.

But the questions ethicists have raised about such work are numerous: Should we be playing God? Does the potential for good that new life forms may have outweigh the harm they could do?

Arthur Caplan, who heads the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics, says yes. This technology "is impressive. It's powerful and it should be treated with humility and caution," Caplan says, "But we should do it."

A genome is made up of DNA "letters," or base pairs, that combine to "spell" an individual's chromosomes. The human genome project was completed in April.

This summer, researchers at Venter's Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives bought commercially available strands of DNA and, using a new technology, coaxed them together to form a duplicate of the genome of a bacteriophage called phi X.

"It's a very important technical advance," says Gerald Rubin, a molecular geneticist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "You can envision the day when one could sit down at a computer, design a genome and then build it. We're still inventing the tools to make that happen, and this is an important one."

Venter notes the synthetic bacteriophage has 5,000 base pairs in its genome. The human genome has 3 billion, so similar work in human form probably won't happen in this decade, he says.

To date, the largest genome that was synthesized was the 7,500-base-pair polio virus. But that was only semi-functional and took three years to complete.

The researchers chose to put the new technology into the public domain for all scientists to use. It will appear in the next few weeks on the Web site of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The technology raises safety issues, says David Magnus of Stanford's Center for Biomedical Ethics. Even putting it in the public domain is "a double-edged sword," he says. That presumes that allowing everyone access will keep the good guys ahead of the bad guys. "It's a gamble. ... It's a bet that everyone has a stake in," he says.

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Same questions as before.
I'm not giving in to hysteria on this one.
I'm still goin' out there and making the best of every dang day!

I hope you do too!

(We're tougher than dirt!)

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analog

There are a million different ways I could die, and I try not thinking of them. I AM scared of death, but I have some comforts. I am NOT, however, afraid of this biotech stuff. If it happens, it happens, and there's nothing I can do about it- except move to the mountains and keep a lot of weapons.

WhoaitsZ

a;ert... this is a rant i did when trying to answer art. it is a mess, it is jumble up but it is real. if you can decipher it, cool.

Death has danced with me every day of my life. I learned long ago to accept it. I do fear death at times, too. Sometimes I don’t care at all. Sometimes I have insanely scared. But to live is to die; period. You will die. Accept it now.

As for staying positive. If you find ‘the answer’, please, please let me know. God knows I want to know! This is my basic “Z Philosophy of the Moment #384240” (which I will sell you if you send me $$):

Yo ass gonna die, biotch!

Truly, there isn’t a goddamned thing you can do about it. However, right now you live. To live in such fear that you waste the entirety of your life fearing the inevitable is juvenile. So look:

I live my life day by day and if you think that is a stretch I can show you where I’ve lived hour by hour. Right now, honestly, I’m not so thrilled with my life. But I do enjoy a large part of it. I try hard to forget about Mr. Reaper when possible. It’s like school. You close your eyes, you can pull the covers over your head, you can even hide in the closet… but yer going to school, buddy!

So if you can’t consciously be ‘positive’ while living (god knows I can’t – at least not in the trademark smiley gladhand fashion Americans have recently adopted) then simply live.

I get up in the morning. I do my day’s activities; food, sleep, whatever. I go to sleep between 3 am and 8 am and repeat the cycle. So instead of saying are you positive maybe we should simply focus on ‘are you living or withering away???’.

In 2001 I came very close to totally cracking up. I don’t think it is possible for me to have a complete nervous breakdown, but I got as far as I could go. If I saw a doctor’s office I’d almost faint, if I heard a noise I’d almost faint. I totally lost control of my life when I realized… this is fucking stupid. Fuck the people around me for making me think that ‘to live’ is to be what they wanted me to be. Fuck every manipulative bastard, fuck every single person who tried to change me into what I wasn’t, fuck every single person who didn’t accept me for me. I started living. Am I happy? Some. In the middle. But I live. I no longer live by other’s expectations and censor myself from respect, not an authority happy dipshit.

So fuck it… live. Try to live positively. If you cannot, it is okay! Just try hard to not ruin everyone elses life also.

Fremen

Well said, Z.


As for myself, sometimes shit like this and that Yellowstone Caldera crap can get to me, but eventually I learn to shelve it and move on.
If I didn't, I'd be one quivering mass of anxiety nuerosis.

I learn to, basically, ignore it.

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Vyk

ARTelevision, have you ever read John Clancy's Rainbow Six? In it, people use bio engineering to create a very potent strain of Ebola with the express purpose of killing off most of the human population. Reminds me of your first post in this thread (I just started reading it myself).

I've always figured, live each day to the fullest and enjoy what we have. Never know when your stay on this Earth might end.

Though, truly being positive in the face of bad news would be my cousin Linda. A year and a month ago she went to the doctor to have a lump in her breast biopsied. They said they'd call her if there was a problem. No one calls her so she thinks she's in the clear.

A year later she goes in for her annual check up. As it's ending, she asks what the results of her biopsy were... they look... oh hey, check that out, positive for cancer... oops. Oh, hey look, it's spread... joy!

So much for early detection eh? Things look mighty grim for her at the moment but she is refusing to give up. She just had both her breasts removed and is getting chemo/radiation therapy. Still, she refuses to let it get her down. Linda is still a warm, loving, outgoing and giving person in the face of adversity and bad news.

Stay positive, it makes the time you have in life that much nicer

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"Courage of the heart is very rare"

endorphin

ignorance is bliss. there is nothing i can do to stop some scientist make things like this, so why let it bother me?

if i did waste my time trying to stop them - they'd still do it. if i didnt waste my time - they'd still do it.

ultimately, it leads to me being doomed by some politician with an itchy trigger finger for war. unfortunately, i see something big happening in the not too distant future which will make anything in the past seem miniscule.

dragon2fire

to bad news i say this

for the love of god live

enjoy life

thats what i do i may make mistakes but i dont regert desions i make and i dont let fear stop me form living life my way

ARTelevision

Vyk, nope. Haven't read it.
Did watch "28 Days Later" though.
Thanks for the tip...

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WhoaitsZ

one vital thing for us all to remember is that, sure, we are powerless... to an extent.

a lot of us can do more than we let on. don't think we can change the world or anything but we can try.

biowarfare has always terrified me. i will never trust human beings because of shit like this.

GakFace

well.. we say its possible to create such a weapon, well I say its also possible to make something that will enhance our immune systems tenfold. If that happens, who cares about some incurable disease when our body won't let it in?

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Welcome to the club! Not that I'm in the club. And there really isn'a a club in the first place. But if there was a club and if I was in it, I would definitely welcome you to it.

Macheath

You're right. They say human biological evolution has, in a way, ended - so perhaps we craft our own evolution, maybe even becoming somewhat machinelike in nature. At some point we become cybernetic and perhaps some of our assumptions about consciousness are even challenged. We'll evolve ourselves and some of the consequences of that will be foreseen and others won't.

And perhaps then a new natural order will arise from our new nature and create new eqivalents to biological threats like Aids and anthrax and ebola virus. And humans will continue to have discussions like this one. Because no matter what lofty heights we reach, there'll always be something larger, nastier, more powerful, and more chaotic than us.

That's the reality for any group that pegs itself to a common identity, whether it's a tribe, a nation, a race or a species. And we'll always fight the "chaotic" elements around us for the sake of the common identity.

The best we can do is to consolidate, grow, and evolve as a group; but the threats will always exist around us and will come from all directions.