Year: 2022

OLD APHORISM. If I told you that I held in my hand the secret to eradicate every living leaf, every creature with a feather, every hairy beast, indeed every part of nature, your response would probably be disgust and horror? If I told nature that I held in my hand the secret to eradicate every human on this planet, from north to south and east to west, what would they say? "What took you so long?" View in LinkedIn

REGARDLESS OF TREATIES, it appears clear that most countries with the capabilities are engaged in covert biological weapons research, and this is a fact of life. It is also quite clear that there have been numerous secret experiments in civilian populations, and significant accidents, in many countries, with the predictable cover-ups. Truly, it makes punk biotech look quite harmless in comparison. http://lnkd.in/dFHK9z5 View in LinkedIn

THE NEXT BLOG STRING deals with the modern search for solutions to the threat of bioterrorism and biowarfare. It comes at a remarkable time, since the enhanced threat facilitated by synthetic biology is also the most credible pathway towards solutions. Previous counter-measures seem quaint compared with the tools on our side today. View in LinkedIn

BUSH AUTHORIZED $6 BILLION SPENDING on bioterrorism research after 9/11. Today Craig J Venter complains that too much is spent by career scientists on gravy-train projects, and demonstrated that his anti-establishment and maverick approaches can yield rapid results, exemplified with the human genome sequencing and his round the world search for new species. These approaches are a breath of fresh air in the epidemiological and statistically mired rear-view-mirror approach of many in public health who are trying to devise BW solutions. http://lnkd.in/dvxttgj View in LinkedIn

VENTER APPROACHES are a breath of fresh air in the epidemiological and statistically mired rear-view-mirror approach of many in public health who are trying to devise BW solutions. http://lnkd.in/dvxttgj View in LinkedIn

SCOTT GOTTLIEB was voicing criticism of public health approaches to biological threats back in 2003, and here ten years later he is saying similar things. Since 2001, the federal Goverment has spent about ~$50 billion in biological threat preparedness, but these efforts have not been innovative. DARPA, by contrast, has taken on innovative and high-risk projects. Gottlieb suggests a prize-based innovation approach. A smart and fresh voice. http://lnkd.in/dqtST8Z View in LinkedIn

SCATHING CRITIQUE BY EXPERTS in 2001 of the Pentagon's vaccine program for biological attacks. Vaccines were and still are the cornerstone of the defense strategy of the US. The program was "insufficient and will fail", was the conclusion. By 2006, critics of the anthrax vaccine program remained scathing, including John Richardson, who is a retired USAF Reserve lieutenant colonel, who served as a policy analyst on the Joint Staff (J-5). http://lnkd.in/djvQddEhttp://lnkd.in/d8k9gnx View in LinkedIn

SCATHING CRITICISM IF PENTAGON VACCINE PROGRAM FOR BW THREAT. http://lnkd.in/djvQddEhttp://lnkd.in/d8k9gnx View in LinkedIn

BIOSECURITY LAG."As the scientific community has started debating "human-directed evolution," the biosecurity establishment remains behind the curve." http://lnkd.in/dyGvsfW View in LinkedIn

HARD TO ANTICIPATE THE UNKNOWABLE. "Congress ... tried to prepare by creating finite lists of known pathogens and toxins and developing measures to surveil, police, and counter them; But in the new biology world, scientists can now create life themselves and learn about it from the inside. "What we have done so far is going to blow your freakin' mind." (Venter). http://lnkd.in/dyGvsfW View in LinkedIn