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“BIO-CRIME today is akin to computer crime in the early 1980s. Few initially recognized the problem, but one need only observe how the threat grew exponentially over time." http://www.computerworld.com/article/2471716/healthcare-it/dna-hackers--synthetic-biology-weaponized-virus--zero-day-exploit-to-infect-your-brain.html View in LinkedIn

GENE HACKING. “If DNA becomes the next big hacking frontier, it would open a plethora of "Pandora's Box problems.” http://www.computerworld.com/article/2471716/healthcare-it/dna-hackers--synthetic-biology-weaponized-virus--zero-day-exploit-to-infect-your-brain.html View in LinkedIn

PERSONAL HACKING. “Synthetic biology, when tweaked by bioterrorists, could be used for exploitation and "not only to drive large-scale outbreaks. They will also be able to create targeted attacks against a single individual based on his or her own unique biology," http://www.computerworld.com/article/2471716/healthcare-it/dna-hackers--synthetic-biology-weaponized-virus--zero-day-exploit-to-infect-your-brain.html View in LinkedIn

IN THE HANDS OF THE MASSES. “The engineering of life is like software engineering and computer-assisted genetic design will give us the ability to make viruses and vaccines. He asked, "What happens when we can make a vaccine as easily as we can make a tweet?" http://www.computerworld.com/article/2471716/healthcare-it/dna-hackers--synthetic-biology-weaponized-virus--zero-day-exploit-to-infect-your-brain.html View in LinkedIn

IONIC WORDS. “More general signaling molecules involved in regulation of many of the pollination processes have also been identified. Ca2+ is now well established as playing a central role, acting in a signaling capacity during pollen germination, pollen tube growth, SI responses, and gamete reception.” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674205214608996 View in LinkedIn

IT HAS STARTED. “Biology can be hacked. And it is being hacked, every day.” https://lnkd.in/dkjx-Yi View in LinkedIn

POLYMORPHIC WORDS. “A major advantage of using peptides for intercellular crosstalk is their polymorphism. A single amino acid exchange or modification can easily result in complete loss of binding capability at specific cell surface receptors. The specificity of crosstalk, thus, seems to be often mediated by the polymorphic small secreted protein/peptide ligands expressed by individual cell types. Studies to date have initiated the identification of small proteins that act as signaling ligands, together with some of their functions.” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674205214608996 View in LinkedIn

NEW FRONTIER. “Think of all the trouble that computer hackers cause. Now imagine what DNA hackers could do.” https://lnkd.in/dVFmp9V View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this two weekend dive into double fertilization in flowering plants. One explanation for its complexity is that we are looking at the survivors of a biological train wreck, the progeny of almost incompatible hybridizations that carry genetic and metabolic baggage that could not be jettisoned in time, and the resulting offspring is still capable of survival. View in LinkedIn