Recent technological advances in so-called genetic circuits have brought closer a world where cells and viruses could be modified to more effectively serve humans, but also have raised concerns that programmable life could lead to a host of tailored threats similar to Internet worms.
Design automation systems tailored to the task of genetic engineering could prove to be double-edged tools. While they represent a central thrust of the emerging synthetic biology movement, they also can lead to the accidental or deliberate creation of pathogenic biological components.
The author muses on the possibility of genetic engineering going "open source" and the risk of bio-hackers.
Biologists are crafting libraries of interchangeable DNA parts and assembling them inside microbes to create programmable, living machines
Recent advances in genomics and the plummeting cost of supercomputer power have made it possible for "garage hobbyists" to tinker with human and animal genomes.
Hactivists have announced that they are planning to attack several large biotechnology companies in protest.
Glenn McGee of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics argues that the effort to isolate the minimmum number of genes and organism needs to survive could allow 'viral hacking' by making it easy to assemble new viruses from scratch.
Genetic activists have created a simple and inexpensive kit that will allow individuals to 'attack corporate monoculture'. Natural Reality SuperWeed Kit 1.0, contains a mixture of naturally occuring and genetically mutated weed seeds . If these seeds are allowed to germinate and cross pollinate, a SuperWeed will be created that will be resistant to current herbicides (e.g. Monsanto's Roundup). The activists are quick to admit that this tactic will also imperil non-genettically engineered crops. I think the most interesting thing about this announcement, irrespective of whether this particular approach is successful or just, is the warning it gives about the potential for genetic hackers to wreak havoc on our ecosystems. As the knowledge of genetic engineering spreads and the skills and resources needed to do it effectively diminish, genetic hackers may become as much of a threat as computer hackers are today.