From Gene-Editing Cures to Bioweapon Nightmare

The latest biotech investment craze runs on excitement over Crispr, a technique for making gene editing easier and more precise, which biologists have already used to remove disease-causing genes from human embryos and slow the growth of cancer cells. Although a study published last month raised the possibility that the technology might also cause cancer in human cells, experts think this problem is probably only a speed bump on the road to a medical revolution.

More worrying is what Crispr and related new biotechnologies might do for the engineering of new bioweapons. A report by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that finding effective countermeasures won’t be easy, and details a list of hair-raising possibilities for how the new technology could turn our biological machinery against us.