(NOISE - LONG) Re: PLA_gue Germ Terrorism

[jonnyx <jonnyx@edge.edge.net>]

Crypto relevance: absolutely none!

Good lord, what nasty reactions! Maybe there's hope for us
after all. I'll allow myself one reply. Sorry 'bout the length.
 
< snip re: my bits on targetting specific genetic traits >

zinc wrote:

> this is so much shit.  targetting anything is very difficult.
> just ask all those people about the wonders of gene therapy. 
> hell, even the economist had an article about it's failures 
> recently (Dec 16-22 1995, p77).

Putting a person on the moon was considered impossible by most
folks 50 years ago. The German v-series rockets were cutting
edge technology. Now licensed hobbyists can buy solid fuel
motors that are just as powerful some of the ones the Nazis 
had (source: _High Power Rocketry_). Things change.
 
> in any event the so-called 'differences' you are imagining 
> are phenotypes.  these are a long cry from DNA.  i'm not 
> aware of any genetic markers available to distinguish a 
> black man from a white man. and, even if there were, 
> recombination requires long stretches of homology between 
> DNAs, not small differences.  i'd bet it's nearly impossible 
> to target black vs white vs yellow vs a gorilla.

Good. The article I read that suggested the possibility (I'm
pretty sure it was in _Science_ or _Scientific American_)
was rather spooky. I wish you'd said FLATLY impossible, though.
I'm (obviosly) not a biologist/geneticist/whatever, but aren't 
there bugs that go after only chimps? And didn't that ebola 
strain in Virginia only go after the lab monkeys, not the people?
 
...and from Jim Choate:

> Malarky.

< snip >

> Most of the threat of this type of experiments are from simple 
> infections since viruses are not easily raised with this form 
> of equipment.

People will have access to more and better equipment, though.

> One of my favorite 'technology rulers' is when the first strain 
> of commen yeast is released which produces THC or LSD. 

Heh. Guess they'll have to post extra guards at the Wonder Bread 
plant, eh? Woudn't want terrorists dosing little Jimmy's lunch.

< interesting stuff snipped >
 
> I do not believe we will see this in the near term using the 
> micro-manipulater systems which do direct injection of genetic 
> material because of the cost and utility requirements of such 
> equipment.

Which will probably become simplified, streamlined, and cheaper.
Who knows what techniques will be used 20-50 years from now?
Even though (fortunately) it seems that this kind of virus would
be much tougher to produce than I thought (if not impossible), 
I can still see someone trying it and infecting EVERYONE in his 
neighborhood/city/state.

And if it is possible, well, I'd rather have the idea explored 
and cures developed (with the info available to all) before any
would-be Hitler surprised us. 

Finally, from E. ALLEN SMITH

> E. Coli (the workhorse of prokaryotic genetics) can be a pathogen 
> if the right plasmid is inserted. 

> 	Incidentally, thanks to the person who quashed the 
> "black-seeking virus" idiot. 

Not my idea (I'm not that twisted; I find the idea horrifying). 
I read the suggestion in either _Science_ or _Scientific American_ 
(early 1993?). Incidently, the idea was a virus that went after
people with specific racial traits, not a "black-seeking virus". 
Don't attribute me with quotes that aren't mine. I have enough
problems with idiots who assume I'm a racist KKK country-music
loving redneck simply because I'm from Nashville.

> Human races are so far from being proper genetically distinct 
> subspecies that nobody competent would call them that, 

Guess what sunshine, they still teach this in mid- and high-schools.
Hell, even my dictionary sez "race - 1) a division of the human
population distinguished by physical characteristics transmitted
by genes." (Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary, if anyone cares)

> if they only weren't us.

Huh?

Now back to our regularly scheduled crypto (yeah, right).

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