Re: [DIYbio] Biosecurity

We're adding drops to an ocean of genetic transformation, no doubt, but the drops we're adding are self-replicating in an environment covered with cellular life. We harvest sequences that already have high vector potential. We are now getting good at manipulating chromosomes directly. Transposase is a ubiquitous gene fragment in nature, and so probably our labs, and it could likely contaminate tubes that contain wildly different sources of genetic material and a ligase to connect the gene fragments. While there is some comfort in knowing nature has a much larger research budget than humans, I am not certain how blind evolution is. I know I am blind to where evolution will take us, so I feel an ethical need to act out of an abundance of caution.

I pose that any single human-derived nucleic acid (as long or longer than the smallest SGE) that is not a replica or complement of a natural nucleic acid holds the potential to reboot evolution. We cannot know what a doomsday sequence is until it already exists. We should keep these recombinant nucleic acids out of the environment.

I'm calling for precaution, not zero tolerance. If people handling recombinant nucleic acids shared my perspective, they would be more careful and attentive in the lab. Until there is a significantly better way to contain recombinant nucleic acids, this is the best I can hope for. For those of you who are careful, thank you! Expecting high school and middle school teachers to manage this with kids is a tall order we may want to put more thought into.

Personally, from a moral perspective, I believe one is justified in manipulating nucleic acids if they respect its power and seek to alleviate suffering.

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