Security Lags Behind Biotech Advancements

The Takeaway | Oct 28, 2013

We know about 3-D, but what about 4-D? It isn't tech talk in the usual sense, but 4-D in the biotech world refers to something much greater—the creation of life that can in turn recreate itself.

J. Craig Venter is a synthetic life scientist and the brains behind much of this research. It's known as synthetic genomics, which is essentially digitized biology that enables living, breathing, reproducing cells to be created simply from information.

For years, Venter has been warning that while technologies are progressing rapidly, control over our biological creations is nearly nonexistent.

To explain this disconnect between science and security, The Takeaway speaks to Laurie Garrett, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the Foreign Affairs article, "Biology's Brave New World."

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