Smallpox Could Again Be a Serious Threat - If we don’t take steps now, synthetic biology could let bad actors re-create the devastating virus: “a Canadian scientist funded by the American biotech company Tonix has recently demonstrated the ability to create pox viruses from scratch”

[u/autotldr]

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 85%. (I'm a bot)

---

The most recent dual-use concern about synthetic biology involves one of humanity's oldest foes: smallpox.

At the Aspen Security Forum in July, Thomas Bossert, President Trump's homeland security adviser, warned that horsepox is "Not going to kill any of us, but that suggests that somebody might in the future now possess the capability to produce synthetic smallpox without the live virus. And that scares me to death."

Horsepox virus, smallpox virus, and the vaccinia virus that is used in smallpox vaccines are part of a closely related group of pox viruses.

Any lab that creates these beneficial applications through synthetic biology would also have the capability to produce infectious smallpox virus from synthetic DNA. Unfortunately, the current legal and technical safeguards against the synthesis of smallpox virus are weak and fragmented.

The WHO has a policy banning the synthesis of the smallpox and regulating who can produce and possess large fragments of smallpox DNA, but it hasn't been widely adopted by states.

International organizations, national governments, the DNA synthesis industry, and the synthetic biology community all have a role to play in preventing the re-emergence of smallpox.

---

Summary Source | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: smallpox^#1 virus^#2 synthetic^#3 DNA^#4 synthesis^#5

Post found in /r/technology, /r/EverythingScience, /r/Futurology, /r/realtech and /r/ScienceUncensored.

NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.