statism watch

Now, what could possibly go wrong with this idea?

Flashback: Genetically modified monkeys pass traits to offspring | Meet — and eat — the modified Atlantic salmon | Genetically engineered meal close to your table | Are we already dining on clones?

Katie Drummond, Wired.com
February 5, 2010

The Pentagon’s mad science arm may have come up with its most radical project yet. Darpa is looking to re-write the laws of evolution to the military’s advantage, creating “synthetic organisms” that can live forever – or can be killed with the flick of a molecular switch.

As part of its budget for the next year, Darpa is investing $6 million into a project called BioDesign, with the goal of eliminating “the randomness of natural evolutionary advancement.” The plan would assemble the latest bio-tech knowledge to come up with living, breathing creatures that are genetically engineered to “produce the intended biological effect.” Darpa wants the organisms to be fortified with molecules that bolster cell resistance to death, so that the lab-monsters can “ultimately be programmed to live indefinitely.”

Of course, Darpa’s got to prevent the super-species from being swayed to do enemy work – so they’ll encode loyalty right into DNA, by developing genetically programmed locks to create “tamper proof” cells. Plus, the synthetic organism will be traceable, using some kind of DNA manipulation, “similar to a serial number on a handgun.” And if that doesn’t work, don’t worry. In case Darpa’s plan somehow goes horribly awry, they’re also tossing in a last-resort, genetically-coded kill switch:

Develop strategies to create a synthetic organism “self-destruct” option to be implemented upon nefarious removal of organism.

The project comes as Darpa also plans to throw $20 million into a new synthetic biology program, and $7.5 million into “increasing by several decades the speed with which we sequence, analyze and functionally edit cellular genomes.”

Of course, Darpa’s up against some vexing, fundamental laws of nature – not to mention bioethics – as they embark on the lab beast program. First, they might want to rethink the idea of evolution as a random series of events, says NYU biology professor David Fitch. “Evolution by selection is not a random process at all, and is actually a hugely efficient design algorithm used extensively in computation and engineering,” he e-mails Danger Room.

Even if Darpa manages to overcome the inherent intelligence of evolutionary processes, overcoming inevitable death can be tricky. Just ask all the other research teams who’ve made stabs at it, trying everything from cell starvation to hormone treatments. Gene therapy, where artificial genes are inserted into an organism to boost cell life, are the latest and greatest in life-extension science, but they’ve only been proven to extend lifespan by 20 percent in rats.

But suppose gene therapy makes major strides, and Darpa does manage to get the evolutionary science right. They’ll also have a major ethical hurdle to jump. Synthetic biology researchers are already facing the same questions, as a 2009 summary from the Synthetic Biology Project reports:

The concern that humans might be overreaching when we create organisms that never before existed can be a safety concern, but it also returns us to disagreements about what is our proper role in the natural world (a debate largely about non-physical harms or harms to well-being).

Even expert molecular geneticists don’t know what to make of the project. Either that, or they’re scared Darpa might sic a bio-bot on them. “I would love to comment, but unfortunately Darpa has installed a kill switch in me,” one unnamed expert tells Danger Room.

Source | See Also under Eugenics: The government has your baby’s DNA | Gene Patents Under Legal Attack | Hitchens: North Korean’s stature, worldview stunted by authoritarian hate and ignorance | UK: 50 years on, an apology to thalidomide scandal survivors | Toxic cadmium taints kids’ jewelry | Shock study: 12% of kids sexually abused in govt. custody | DNA matches solve only a fraction of crimes, police admit | The future of the residential school commission — An interview with Judge Murray Sinclair | Eyewitness Recounts Forced Organ Removal in China | Copenhagen: Global Population Control Program Suggested To Stop Climate Change | Diane Francis: We need a global one-child policy | Obama’s ‘Science Czar’ John Holdren Friend of Climate Deception Lab | UK Police routinely arresting people to get DNA, inquiry claims | UK: Two-year-olds at risk from ‘gender-bending’ chemicals, report says | Judge OKs Challenge to Human-Gene Patents | Deaths Associated With Swine Flu Vaccine Reported In Europe | GG relaunches Truth and Reconciliation Commission | IBM Building Personal DNA Reader | BPA in womb linked to aggression in girls | HPV vaccine ‘As deadly as the cancer’: Cervarix designer | UK: Pilot project for DNA, isotope analysis of immigrants ‘deeply flawed’ | Public Health: Mystery tumour ‘likely’ killed British girl after HPV shot | British schoolgirl dies after HPV vaccination | Immortality only 20 years away says scientist | The Case for Killing Granny | UK: Question a doctor about HPV shot and lose your child | UK: Sentenced to death by the National Health Service | Canada to order 50.4 million H1N1 vaccine doses — with adjuvant additive | Reduce fetal exposure to BPA and phthalates, experts say | California fertility clinic offers celebrity look-alike sperm | Baby emissions fuel global warming | Washington Post: Swine Flu Vaccine Will Contain Mercury | Fast-tracked swine flu vaccine will be safe, officials insist | Aging Shanghai pushes for more babies | UK: Man refused liver transplant by NHS dies | Obama Science Advisor Called For “Planetary Regime” To Enforce Totalitarian Population Control Measures | Bisphenol A traces found in baby food: Health Canada | Rwanda denies sterilisation plans | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Scottish parliamentarians seek answers as cervical cancer vaccine injuries mount | Chemical ban targets toys, rubber duckies | HIV positive women in Africa sterilized, stigmatized | Aspartame-laden diet pop kicked out of Toronto schools | Study finds genetic discrimination by insurance firms | UK: Police ‘arrest innocent youths for their DNA’, officer claims | New members tapped for residential school commission: report | Elevated BPA levels in people drinking out of plastic bottles, study finds | Billionaire club in bid to curb overpopulation | Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk Of Hospitalization For Flu, Study Suggests | High-fructose sweeteners linked to obesity, diabetes | David Attenborough becomes patron for population reduction | BC Court Tells Ottawa to Amend Status Rules for Natives | UK population must fall to 30m: Optimum Population Trust | Australians refused insurance because of poor genes | ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible | Tests find Bisphenol A in majority of soft drinks | Designer baby row over US clinic | Chair to have final say as residential schools commission jobs rewritten | Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe | Vaccine Court: Autism Debate Continues | Vaccines ‘not to blame for autism’, U.S. court rules | Hepatitis C sufferers haven’t received promised federal money | Remaining 2 members resign from residential schools commission | Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury | Health Canada silent on cellphone risks for kids | As in Canada, gender-bending chemicals in UK rivers grow more potent | Did Pharma Giant with Gardasil HPV Patents Buy Nobel Prize? | Chemicals feminizing males, study suggests | Has your child been CAFed? How the Government plans to record intimate information on every child in Britain | Major report to reveal male gender under threat from pollutants | Baby Teething Gel Poisoned in Nigeria | FDA Reluctantly Admits Mercury Fillings Have Neurotoxic Effects on Children | Sick babies denied treatment in DNA row | “Trace amounts” of Melamine found in Canadian infant formula | FDA finds traces of melamine in U.S. infant formula | End water fluoridation, U of T dental professor says | Cities, States Questioning Wisdom of Adding Fluoride Chemicals to Public Water Supplies | CBC broadcasts “The Disappearing Male”, an expose of hormone-disrupting plastics | Experts set to revisit global cloning ban | Commission to Probe Graves at Native ‘Residential School’ Sites | Government to hold talks over future of residential-schools commission | Chairman quits troubled residential-school commission | Health Canada adds bisphenol A to list of toxic substances | Truth commission tied too closely to government: aboriginal groups | Plastics ingredient linked to feminization in children | Tests find melamine in candies, milk, infant formula from China | Useless seniors burdening the state have duty to die: British Baroness | Govt. Report: Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Air freshener chemicals could impact fertility: study | Do Swiss parents need a childrearing licence? | Bisphenol tied to lower brain function | Revealed: The serious health concerns about the cervical cancer jab | Chemical Industry Source of Hyped FDA Study ‘Exonerating’ Plastic Bottles | Study links aggression to wide faces | Computer scientists revive eugenics tool to spot brain damage | Population control thinktank to Britons: Have less children | The evolution of baby-making | Don’t blame right-wing thugs for eugenics – Socialists made it fashionable | Newborn Blood-Storage Law Stirs Fears of DNA Warehouse | Crimestop: UK Police Now Expected to Collect Social, Dietary, Sexual Information | Forced chemo treatment of child ‘heavy-handed’ decision: bioethicists | Families will make case for vaccine link to autism | Location of Mass Graves of Residential School Children Revealed for the First Time; Independent Tribunal Established | Bush To Veto Ban On Mercury In Vaccines | The Legacy of Native American Schools | The Horrifying American Roots of Nazi Eugenics | Alberta Barren: The Mannings and forced sterilization in Canada

This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 11:22 am and is filed under eugenics, militarization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.