Jaime Yassif on the need for better safeguarding of bioscience
An expert says bad-faith actors can too easily get hold of dangerous biotechnology
AS A RESULT of advances in bioscience and biotechnology, synthetic DNA—the potential building blocks of a dangerous pathogen—could be just an online order away. In recent years, the cost of DNA synthesis has continued to plummet, new suppliers have emerged in countries around the world, and bench-top synthesis devices that make it easier for scientists to print DNA in their own labs are now commercially available. Safeguards have not always kept up.
By Invitation December 24th 2022
From the December 24th 2022 edition
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