Mail-Order CRISPR Kits Allow Anyone to Hack DNA

Here&#x27;s a transcript of a recent talk given by Josiah Zayner: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;diyhpl.us&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;transcripts&#x2F;diy-human-gene-therapy-with-crispr&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;diyhpl.us&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;transcripts&#x2F;diy-human-gene-therapy-wit...</a><p>[20:40] “If you look at Step 3 - which is, uh, you know, I like steps and lists, they are awesome - uhm, there are actually websites out there that have this infrastructure completely built. You can go in, type in the name of a gene. Not even the name, you could type in the name you think a gene should be named, and what it will do is predict the best guide RNAs, the best 20 bases, to use, so that Cas9 enzyme can cut in your genome in this exact place.&quot;<p>&quot;Literally, you don’t have to do anything, right? You have to go in, type in the name of a gene, and press enter, and you could modify yourself with CRISPR. Right? That’s what this DNA basically is. This DNA, if you think about, took me about 5 minutes to make. Actually, it happened so fast, I had to go back and verify it a couple of times. I didn’t think I could create DNA that could modify my own genetics with CRISPR in 5 minutes. Now, if that doesn’t blow your mind, I, I really don’t know what does. And, the next question comes down to, &#x27;What’s holding us back; what’s stopping us?&#x27; And I dunno, to me, I, I don’t really know what’s stopping us, you know? I, I think about it a lot, because, I have this really, you know, bad snaggle-tooth, and I think like what happens if I could change that?&quot;<p>&quot;No but if you think about, people are born with things that they have no decision over. And then everybody else says, &#x27;Oh, no, fuck you, I&#x27;m athletic and 6 feet tall and, you know, good looking, and you just, you just, the genetic lottery - you lost. That&#x27;s the truth. You lost the genetic lottery and you have to suffer through it.&#x27; How does it make sense?&quot;<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.the-odin.com&#x2F;diyhumancrispr" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.the-odin.com&#x2F;diyhumancrispr</a><p>personally i&#x27;m down to fund projects like this, so if any of you are interested, get in touch &amp; let&#x27;s deploy.

<i>Finally, what about the nightmare scenario: Is CRISPR so easy to use that we need to worry about biohackers—either accidentally or intentionally—creating dangerous pathogens? Carroll and others think that the danger of putting CRISPR in the hands of the average person is relatively low. “People have imagined scenarios where scientists could use CRISPR to generate a virulent pathogen, ” he says. “How big is the risk? It’s not zero, but it’s fairly small.” Gersbach agrees. “Right now, it’s difficult to imagine how it’d be dangerous in a real way,” he explains</i><p>It&#x27;s hard for &quot;normal&quot; people to imagine how sociopaths or those with destructive aims will behave when given flexible tools like this. It&#x27;s kind of like how no one anticipated how social media networks whose ostensible purpose is to connect friends could be used to undermine elections, abet fraud, commit character assassination, and drive people to suicide. And while the real-life example of using CRISPR to switch the limbs of tiny crustaceans sounds harmless, wait til someone mutates something bigger and more familiar for &quot;better&quot; attributes or capabilities that can cause direct harm or inadvertent effects. It&#x27;s probably already happened ... but we may not understand the impact for years.

I am not afraid of what &quot;biohackers&quot; can do with CRISPR. It&#x27;s very hard to come up with &quot;pandemic viruses&quot;, even for nature, let alone for scientists, or even hobbyists.<p>At worst, the capabilities CRISPR and other techniques from synthetic biology give to genuine researchers will offset any mischief a hobbyist can do.

I saw John Sotos, Chief Medical Officer of Intel talk at DEF CON 25 about bio-hacking. This guy is at the top of his field and whip-smart. He&#x27;s without a doubt an expert in this field and it was one of the most terrifying talks I&#x27;ve ever attended at DEF CON. Bio-hacking has the potential of being one of the gravest threats to humanity in far more ways than just killing people. This is a MUST WATCH:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=HKQDSgBHPfY" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=HKQDSgBHPfY</a>

This will really take homebrew beer to the next level.<p>I can&#x27;t imagine these kits allow modification of anything more than a bacteria,virus, or fungus.<p>I&#x27;m no biologist though.<p>Is someone making a black death 2.0 in their garage even possible ?

Dupe: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=15640921" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=15640921</a>

Why a moral panic instead of celebrating the achievement?<p>xx years ago, mail-order computer kits allowed absolutely anyone to hack code (and, gasp! illegally copy software or create computer viruses!)<p>yy years ago, mail-order color printers and scanners allowed absolutely anyone to hack paper (and, gasp! forge documents)<p>Is this part of a war against freedom? Then we are inconsistent. We should also lament on how Intel ME backdoors have become less efficient due to free software activist disabling them, or the demise of the Clipper chip promoted during the Clinton years.

What if someone targets genotypes that are prevalent in, say, a specific race, and puts this in the drinking water?

Fortunately there is difference between creating deadly virus or bacteria and weaponizing it. Effective weaponization requires stabilization. Biwoweapon must survive in the environment and there must good delivery mechanism. Creating epidemic requires optimizing the delivery, contagiousness and symptoms.<p>It seems that North Korea has remote islands dedicated to bioweapon development and testing. Biosafety level 4 laboratories are must if your researches go to home each night. But if you can do the most dangerous parts in islands where people are in quarantine and have prisoners to experiment with, it&#x27;s easier. It&#x27;s impossible to know how well they have weaponized their bioweapons.<p>Description of North Korea’s BW Program from ROK Parliamentary Audit 2015:<p>&gt;North Korea has 13 types of biological weapons in the form of agents, and it can cultivate and weap- onize them within ten days. In an emergency, it is likely that the North would prioritize using anthrax which is highly fatal and smallpox which is highly contagious. Special forces, airplanes, and contam- inated carcasses are the potential delivery means. It appears that the North has not developed missile warheads with BW payload.