Every read "White Plague"?

[72rdstr]

Book by Frank Herbert about a scientist that develops a plague that only kills women (his wife was killed by terrorists and he goes a little off).

Given what we now know about the human genome and our proclivity to tinker with weapons, how long do you think it'll be before we have genetically engineered bioweapons that target specific groups of people?

I was doing some reading on prions and genetic research (again) and happened to remember this book (from the early '80s, I think). Chilling prospect.

[Chris Coose]

how long do you think it'll be before we have genetically engineered bioweapons that target specific groups of people?


It's here.

http://www.trinitydc.edu/news_events/mags/fall02/images/pelosi.jpg


Sometimes, as with many killer threats, it takes its victims time to realize they have been mortally wounded.

[marwesmed]

Now that sounds like a very interesting weapon. It certainly would solve some issues though.

[Milo Christensen]

The main lesson to be learned from the White Plague is to not release anything for which you don't already posess the antidote or vaccine.

Imagine the money to be made from being the first to develop and market an effective antidote or vaccine.

[Tylerdurden]

I read an article a while back about a South African doctor who was working on just such a weapon. I won't go into it but who was supporting him and funding his research was very revealing.
Don't doubt for a minute that if it was possible some group of bastards are working on it.

[ishmael]

Hm. The scenario is common fodder for science fiction. Almost any writer working that vein has a short story or two percolating. The conspiricists talk about this sort of stuff everyday. Design a bug that targets a population, ohh, cool!

The weird part, a weird part, is that it's eminently possible. People wring their hands about genetics research in stem cells, all the while people in level five labs are cooking gawd knows what.

[Tylerdurden]

Hm. The scenario is common fodder for science fiction. Almost any writer working that vein has a short story or two percolating. The conspiricists talk about this sort of stuff everyday. Design a bug that targets a population, ohh, cool!

The weird part, a weird part, is that it's eminently possible. People wring their hands about genetics research in stem cells, all the while people in level five labs are cooking gawd knows what.

Problem is Ish it isn't science fiction, Idiots have been working on this for over twenty years. What stops them is mutation. You may design the right bug in the lab but in the real world its a different story.
The GM foods industry is starting to see serious problems in that regard.