> We stand on the bridge at Khazad-d=FBm. The not distant =

> enough drums sound
> their doom-doom call ...

I was impressed and pleased at the range of responses to =

that post. Many of the implications have been nicely =

unearthed.

> =

> http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/synthetic_genome?cu=
rrentPage=3Dall

Nobody gave the Balrog or the bridge a second mention though =

:-).

FWIW it needs to be realised that Craig Venter is arguably =

the most capable person on earth to produce results in this =

field, bust because of his person knowledge and experience =

and capabilities and also because of his demonstrated =

ability to put together competent teams of people who =

achieve world class results. he was the person who single =

handedly upstaged the human genome project, lead to his =

efforts and theirs being merged in a shotgun-wedding when it =

became obvious that he would beat them by years if they =

didn't join with him (his success, their funding :-) ), and =

fwiw it's quite possibly his personal genome that was =

sequenced by the project, although nobody will ever tell =

you.

He above all others is well aware of how little we know =

about the complexities of the arcane machinery that we are =

playing with (His quote some time after the successful end =

of the HG project done his way " "We don't know shit") in a =

world  where many think that we have it all under control. =

He is among the most aware of the dangers that can be =

unleashed and of our inability to protect against them. And =

he is the one most liable to do it.

All the various possibilities that people mentioned are "on =

the menu" with varying degrees of likelihood. From the =

drooling pile in the corner to the humanity destroying super =

scum. My exemplar would be something that combines the =

characteristics of Ebola, HIV and the common cold. It =

travels the world at just below the speed of sound (thanks =

to Mr Borings fine products), is largely undetectable, has a =

decade long incubation period so that everyone on earth =

contracts it before the payload delivers and then attacks =

with the efficacy of Ebola (speed and short term impact) so =

that attempts to manage it are overwhelmed. With a bit of =

care and 'luck' it should be able to take out the whole =

human race. If Venter and co don't manage this by mistake =

somebody (some of the more extreme people from eg F.O.T.E. =

seem good candidates) should be able to engineer it to order =

in the next decade or so.

Venter is not creating life, and doesn't claim to be. He is =

using the protein folding 101 super arcane magic making =

utterly complex beyond our understanding tool-kit to splice =

together bits and pieces to order. He has only the very very =

very vaguest idea of the more complex interactions that will =

occur between most of the portions of his creation - and he, =

unlike most others, is well aware of this. He is the =

pre-eminent expert in understanding in depth and with =

insight the vastly complex nature of what he is doing. The =

last two sentences are not mutually contradictory. Tremble.

Venter is head of the race to destroy the race. And he knows =

it. And he is running well at the front of the field and =

with skill and stamina. I read the other day that most of =

the top management of NATO are arguing for the need to have =

pre-emptive nuclear strike capability to combat major =

terrorist threats. Perhaps they'll have that ability any =

week now and ... ;-).

We stand on the bridge at Khazad-d=FBm. The not distant enough =

drums sound their doom-doom call ...
Don't any of you watch fine NZ movies? :-)



            Russell

> =

> http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/synthetic_genome?cu=
rrentPage=3Dall

-- =

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