We are Rapidly Learning How to Read and Edit the Code of Life

With the ability to read, write, and edit the code of life, the so-called biorevolution can lead to advances in human longevity and overall prosperity, along with the ability to carry out biological attacks and targeted assassinations, according to an In-Q-Tel report.

This month In-Q-Tel (IQT), the venture capital arm for US intelligence and national defense, published a report, "The Biorevolution: Its Implications for US National Security, Economic Competitiveness, and National Power," in which the author, former executive vice president and current senior fellow at IQT Dr. Tara O'Toole, outlined the dualistic nature of the biorevolution.

"We are rapidly learning how to 'read, write, and edit' the code of life."

Dr. O'Toole has played many different roles across a variety of big institutions, including, but not limited to:

• Council on Foreign Relations (CFR): Member

• Department of Homeland Security (DHS): Under Secretary of Science and Technology, 2009 - 2014

• Department of Energy (DoE): Assistant Secretary for Environment Safety and Health, 1993 - 1997

• Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security [which co-hosted Event 201, Clade X, and Dark Winter pandemic and biowarfare simulations]: Founding Member and Director, 2000 - 2005

  
  

According to Dr. O'Toole's report, "Our increasing capacity to use biology to serve human purposes stems from one of the most significant scientific insights of the past century: life is written in code. Biology is programmable."

With this capacity, the biorevolution, which stems from the convergence of advancements in both life sciences and digital technologies, promises to "bring about a new era in our ability to prevent and treat disease," and, "It will change how we design and manufacture almost everything and expand what it is possible to make, such as materials with new properties, replacement organs, and crops that resist pests and drought."

But, "As with all powerful technologies, biotechnologies are dual-use and can be used for malignant purposes."

These "malignant purposes" include the creation of new bioweapons and targeted assassinations of individuals or groups.

In July, 2020, Dr. O'Toole gave a presentation on the biorevulotion in which she highlighted:

"We can now engineer biological weapons; we can make organisms that are resistant to vaccines -- that are resistant to antibiotics.

"We can combine different diseases in peculiar ways that can make them very difficult to diagnose or treat [...]

"We are learning to manipulate how the brain functions -- a weapon that would make everybody go to sleep or feel extremely anxious is not out of the question."

According to O'Toole's IQT report:

"The capacity to alter living organisms can be used to fashion diverse, potentially covert, biological weapons against humans, plants, and animals.

"Many mechanisms for disrupting biological function could be used in addition to traditional infectious disease-based bioweapons.

"Biological attacks might be launched against troops or civilian populations, used as a means of assassination, used to sabotage key industries or facilities, or used as warnings in times of crisis."

Dr. O'Toole's IQT biorevolution report also touches upon the concept of transhumanism, where humans merge with technology, along with genetic engineering that could fundamentally alter what it means to be human in the coming years.

According to her report:

"Human-computer interfaces will be common and used to prevent or mitigate damage to the central nervous system, among other uses.

"Eventually, genetically altering and enhancing individual physical and cognitive functions may be possible.

"Advances in human longevity are also possible."

The idea of using technology and genetic editing to augment humans beyond their natural capabilities, as opposed to simply treating injuries or illnesses, is one loaded with ethical concerns.

For example, the Pentagon is investigating how to fundamentally alter what it means to be human, funding research into creating super humans that are smarter, faster, and stronger through human performance enhancement.

If successful, these “people” would have the potential to never tire and think smarter, move faster, jump higher, see farther, hear better, hit harder, live longer, adapt stronger, and calculate quicker than any other human being on the planet.

Humanity as we know it may split into an entirely new species, where those not genetically edited or technologically altered could never compete with those who were.

"As we advance, it will be necessary to carefully integrate ethical and democratic values into the wisdom of using biotechnologies to address compelling and urgent problems"

In her IQT report, Dr. O'Toole touches upon some of the ethical concerns surrounding the biorevolution in general, stating, "Ethical issues will surely arise as individuals, corporations, and nations seek to alter 'Mother Nature' for their purposes.

"As we advance, it will be necessary to carefully integrate ethical and democratic values into the wisdom of using biotechnologies to address compelling and urgent problems."

Therefore, the author suggests:

"Transparent analyses of risks and benefits will be essential, and the public must actively participate in such appraisals.

"Failure to duly consider and respond to ethical concerns, or to anticipate and protect against potential accidents, could endanger the biotech enterprise and compromise or eliminate the benefits of a bioeconomy."

"We will program cells like we program computers"

On March 3, 2020, less than two weeks before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19 had reached pandemic status, a subcommittee of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing on "Securing US Leadership in the Bioeconomy," in which expert witnesses testified to how the bioeconomy would program cells like computers to feed, fuel, and heal society.

Senior Research Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University Dr. Megan Palmer testified that although the bioeconomy presented biological threats, those threats could also be made obsolete using the same biotechnology.

Dr. Palmer imagined “a future where biological threats – from emerging diseases to biological weapons – might be rendered obsolete because we can prevent, rapidly detect, diffuse, and deter them.”

She also spoke of “a future where diverse products made with biotechnology help us to feed, fuel, and heal this nation, and the world, in ways that are safer, more sustainable and more secure.”

At the same hearing, Dr. Jason Kelly, Co-Founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks, said:

"We will program cells like we program computers, and the reason that’s possible is because in every plant, animal, and microbe out in nature is digital code in the form of DNA inside those cells.

“We can read that code with DNA sequencing, and we can write that code with DNA synthesis or DNA printing.

“And if you can read and write code, you can program it.”

Dr. O'Toole's in-depth, 14-page report gives a much more detailed look into other aspects of the biorevolution not covered in this story, including the foundational technologies of the biorevolution, agricultural production, manufacturing, and planetary health, along with recommendations for the US government when considering national security issues, such as investing in research, and countering China's bid to own the biorevolution.

In April 2020, investigative writer Whitney Webb published "All Roads Lead to Dark Winter" for The Last American Vagabond and Unlimited Hangout, in which she highlighted that Dr. O'Toole was one of the co-authors of the 2001 Dark Winter biowarfare simulation.

According to Webb's investigative report, "Dark Winter not only predicted the 2001 anthrax attacks, but some of its participants had clear foreknowledge of those attacks."

She also referred to Dr. O'Toole as someone with a "longstanding promotion of mass surveillance in the name of 'public health.'"

This article was originally published by Tim Hinchliffe on The Sociable.