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ONE IS ENOUGH. "The last time a piece of mutable self-replicating code got out of control – when the selfish gene chain-reaction took off about 3.5 billion years ago – the harvest was very remarkable indeed” (Dawkins, 1992). https://lnkd.in/dGnhiwY View in LinkedIn

ONE LEVEL CROSSOVER. “Learn how a researcher infected himself with a computer virus. Dr. Mark Gasson, senior research fellow at University of Reading, explaining how he inserted a RFID chip under the skin between his thumb and first finger. After the RFID implant was in place, Dr. Gasson was able to infect it with a virus. And more importantly, infect (replicate the virus) other devices." https://lnkd.in/d2b3iQn View in LinkedIn

TWO LEVEL CROSSOVERS. "But there are more immediate possibilities for computer-biology crossovers. Synthetic biology uses computers to store genetic information, and Apvrille and Lovet explained that hackers could infect these devices or the software used for DNA sequencing, thereby modifying whatever biological product is being synthesized." https://lnkd.in/dmzuNWh View in LinkedIn

WHY NOT #2. "As for computer viruses speciating and evolving, Apvrille and Lovet believed that with enough data the code for a single computer virus might form spontaneously. Chances are slimmer, however, that it would include the necessary details to adapt and evolve. So far this scenario has only occurred in viruses in which researchers have encoded genetic algorithms to mimic evolutionary processes." https://lnkd.in/dmzuNWh View in LinkedIn

WHY NOT #1. "Apvrille and Lovet argued that both scenarios are possible, with a few caveats to each. Scientists have already synthesized viruses such as polio and SARS for research purposes, so it's conceivable that someone could synthesize viruses as bioweaponry." https://lnkd.in/dmzuNWh View in LinkedIn

WHAT IF? "The origins of each virus are strikingly different: A computer virus is designed, whereas a biological virus evolves under pressure from natural selection. But what would happen if these origins are switched? Could hackers code for a super-virus, or a computer virus emerge out of the information "wilderness" and evolve over time?" https://lnkd.in/dmzuNWh View in LinkedIn

ACT OF GOD. "It is important to note, however, that none of these characteristics came from the viruses themselves. Rather, each change and addition to virus behavior has been wrought by an outside agency: the programmer." https://lnkd.in/eCG7b3z View in LinkedIn

LATENT. "Some viruses also exhibit self-protective behavior, including camouflage techniques." https://lnkd.in/eCG7b3z View in LinkedIn

TERRITORIAL. "Other viruses exhibit territorial behavior — marking their infected domain so that others of the same type will not enter and compete with the original infection." https://lnkd.in/eCG7b3z View in LinkedIn

UNEXPECTED COMBINATIONS. "A single-celled bacterium is alive, but if you separate the macromolecules that combined to create the bacterium, these units are not alive. Based on our knowledge of macromolecules, we would not have been able to predict that they could combine to form a living organism, nor could we have predicted all of the characteristics of the resulting bacterium." https://lnkd.in/epkJVpt View in LinkedIn