by Jeffrey Smith
Executive Director, Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT)
If you’ve just watched
And if so, what can we do about it?”
First, know that it is true that nearly-released GM bacteria could theoretically have wiped out terrestrial plants and altered weather patterns. And as crazy as it seems, scientists really did create an airborne version of a deadly flu strain, which could theoretically decimate the population.
But despite the whole checklist of conditions required to turn theory into catastrophe, we do know that tiny changes in tiny microbes can shake and shape the earth. When we tinker with microbial genomes, we risk widespread disease, soil infertility, species extinction, even ecosystem collapse.
It is easy to understand how enhancing pathogens to the point where they can create new pandemics is immensely dangerous. Even though this is conducted inside biosecurity labs by trained technicians in space suits, experts say it’s still too risky. The US government heeded those concerns years ago, instituting a partial shutdown of this “gain of function” (GOF) research from 2014-2017.
Today a growing number of experts also appreciate the huge risks of genetically engineering even non-pathogenic microbes. Not only can they mutate, replicate, and travel the globe, microbes hold “
genetic swap meets.” They exchange genes throughout their communities.