Synthetic Pathogens Might Pose Bioterror Threat, Scientists Warn
Friday, Sept. 10, 2010
By Rachel Oswald
Global Security Newswire
WASHINGTON --The newfound ability of scientists to produce disease materials from scratch has led to concerns that extremists might seek the same capabilities to carry out acts of bioterrorism (see GSN, Aug. 11).
Synthetic pathogens are man-made infectious agents that are produced either from the manufacture or adaptation of DNA, cells and other biological structures.
While scientists have been engineering genetic sequences for decades and commercial gene sequencing has been around for years, the field continues to move into uncharted territory. This year, researchers for the first time were able to design and produce cells that do not exist in nature without using pre-existing biological matter -- marking the latest evolution in the rapidly advancing field of synthetic biology.
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