Re: [DIYbio] Biosecurity

On 5/28/19, Tom Randall <tarandall@gmail.com> wrote:

> Given this has been
> going on over a billion years I don't see how humans, even if all DNA
> synthesis and cloning efforts were solely devoted to making and releasing
> novel sequences, could ever hope to catch up.
> ... Evolution is pretty blind.
>
> Tom

The difference is in yield. Evolution which creates one or two
strange mutations in an isolated geographical environment (small
yield) is different than humans artificially creating 1B clones of
with specifically engineered mutation as a target, of which 100M's of
those are released in various geographies globally (huge yield).
Evolution has been modifying highly localized flu viruses for
centuries in tiny populations but only fairly recently caused near
pandemic through worldwide, rapid globetrotting by humans.

Biologists have a weak argument and ingrained bias by frequently
reciting the improper analogy of, "Well, nature has been doing it for
millennia, so..." I can't say if the biosecurity idea in this
thread is valid but that defense is pretty thin. Nature creates
radioactive heavy metals sometimes, too: rarely and in single
molecules. In comparison, only humans could cause the high-yield
disaster of Chernobyl by mishandling massively concentrated elements.


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## Jonathan Cline
## jcline@ieee.org
## Mobile: +1-805-617-0223
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