~A 'molecular biologist' responds to "Experts Worry that Synthetic Biology May Spawn Biohackers" article:
"...biohackers are a very real threat. Many people may say it is not, many computer scientists, business people and others who really have few credentials to voice such an opinion. Biological Scientists may be shy about confirming this threat as well, as it may panic people and cut funding. Of course mentioning it also gives some people the idea to do it in the first place. Even I have been very quiet on the topic as it gives me nightmares and it also gives nightmares to my friends.
I was at a biotech conference in 1997 when a scientist mentioned that they knew of a lab that just as a experiment, made a bacteria resistant to every known antibiotic. This took a few scientists a week to do in between other experiments. They quit quickly after they realized how scary it was. That was 7 years ago! The main reason this kind of thing has not happened yet, in my opinion, is most bioscientists are highly educated "good" people with many oversights. Sociopaths are usually identified before they get a PhD.
Unfortunately, automated instrumentation is being exported to many other countries and being used by less educated people. In the near future, automated instruments may be in the hands of less educated or more desperate people."
via: politech w/link to the biologist.
~Slashdot offers readers' comments on biohacking.