[IN THE NEWS] Biologists Napping While Work Militarized

Scientists are often portrayed as the dupes of the military, or government conspiracies. Now a new editorial by Bioethicist Malcolm Dando states that biologists don't understand how their research is being weaponized. Read the full article to understand the very real ramifications.

Biologists napping while work militarized [Nature.com]

As researchers discover more agents that alter mental states, the Chemical Weapons Convention needs modification to help ensure that the life sciences are not used for hostile purposes, says Malcolm Dando.

At the 4th European Symposium on Non-Lethal Weapons in 2007, researchers from the Institute of Experimental Medicine and Charles University in Prague described the effects on macaque monkeys of combinations of drugs that produce a rapid loss of aggressive behaviour. They argued that the drugs could be "used to pacify aggressive people during ... terrorist attacks". The same researchers have also investigated methods of aerosol delivery to human volunteers.

Those who support the development of incapacitating agents often argue that using them in conflict situations stops people being killed. Historical evidence suggests otherwise. At the Nord-Ost siege, for instance, terrorists exposed to the fentanyl mixture were shot dead rather than arrested. Likewise, in Vietnam, the US military used vast quantities of CS gas — a 'non-lethal' riot-control agent — to increase the effectiveness of conventional weapons by flushing the Viet Cong out of their hiding places.

It's worth reading the entire editorial - full of facts of how life sciences has been perverted into blueprints for bioweaponry and just how some scientists either turn a blind eye to, or are complicit in the weaponization of their scientific discoveries.

However, in relation to the After the Bomb game setting, it offers a gold mine of possibilities. Whether it be mad scientists wanting to test their latest experiment on some rural locals, a war lord using the scientific discoveries of a duped scientist, or the Empire discovering some lost biological weapon from before the Crash, the possibilities are nearly limitless. As horrible, troublesome, or disturbing as they may be...

[IN THE NEWS] Bio-Hackers

It seems that we are already living in an age where people already have their own home bio-labs. Currently, it's a fringe group know as bio-hackers, creating the genetically-engineered bugs in makeshift gene laboratories for fun.

Okay, their not just creating germs and viruses, Boston bio-hacker Kay Aull (as seen in the attached video below) used her hacking skills to test her father and herself for the genetic disease haemochromatosis.



There's even a DIYbio forum where these guys share their 1337-skills. However, authorities are becoming increasingly concerned of the health and contamination risks of these at home bio hobbyists. DIYbio Founder Mac Cowell, in a Sky News said, "The main danger is if you're doing it on your own - the chemicals can be considered hazardous waste so you need to know how to dispose it."

So it will be no surprise when Erick's vision becomes a reality,

"It wasn't long before ordinary citizens could buy gene-scan attachments and software for their personal computers, before trading in gene patterns was common on the internet, and before 'virtual' breeding games let anyone experiment with mixing genes and chromosomes from different animals.

One of the most dramatic new products was called the EGG®, or Embryonic Genome Generator. Sold as "make your own mutant" kits, the first EGGs were used to grow transgenetic mice. EGGs suitable for growing dogs, cats and other pets quickly caught on. Within months, people all over the world were experimenting by mixing genes from different animals, and even from humans."