What is more terrible than nuclear weapons caused by advances in biotechnology?
Biotechnology, including gene therapy, is advancing at breakneck speed, making it possible to create cures for previously untreatable diseases and to use bacteria to produce insulin. However, biotechnology can be devastating to humankind if used incorrectly.
The Most Dangerous Weapon is NOT Nuclear-YouTube
Modern biotechnology has permeated various fields such as clothing materials, vegetables, and pets.
Technological development is also underway, such as connecting prosthetic hands directly to the brain.
Gene therapy is also creating cures for previously untreatable diseases and developing food crops that can withstand climate change.
Biology is accelerating its research every day, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus was analyzed, gene copies and vaccine development started within weeks of the outbreak. Also, clinical trials of vaccines became possible months after the pandemic.
This progress, which was unthinkable in biology 10 years ago, is believed to be because ``expensive research costs have become cheaper and knowledge for research has spread freely''.
As of 2003, when the completed version of the Human Genome Project, which took 13 years and cost 3 billion dollars (about 430 billion yen), was released, the cost of human genome analysis was already about 100 million dollars (about 14 billion yen). It was down by .
In modern times, the cost of human genome analysis is said to be only $ 1000 (about 140,000 yen).
It used to take three years for experts to manually convert DNA into computer data and study it. However, in modern times, it is possible to automatically convert data in about two weeks.
Where once biotechnology research was confined to the best, well-funded laboratories with world-class experts, today hundreds of thousands of researchers can easily conduct research and development. became.
Another factor that accelerated the research process was the widespread and free sharing of information in research fields.
Cutting-edge discoveries in biotechnology are expected to take only one year to be shared and utilized by laboratories around the world.
Accelerating the research and development process can lead to new life-saving treatments, new crops, and solutions to problems we can't even imagine.
However, it has been pointed out that advances in biotechnology are polar opposites, with the potential to benefit mankind and kill millions of people.
At worst, a biotechnology that kills hundreds of millions of people is more dangerous than any nuclear weapon.
The cause of the novel coronavirus outbreak is unknown, but we have just witnessed a pandemic that has killed at least 7 million patients.
The current novel coronavirus is a virus with a relatively low fatality rate, but that may change in the future. Declining costs for biotechnology research and advances in information sharing have also made it easier to study viruses that are more contagious and lethal.
Under such circumstances, it is a matter of time that the virus will be spread by sharing the data of the 'super bug' developed that can kill millions of people.
Advances in science and technology are creating an environment in which anyone can easily create weaponized viruses.
The unleashed Super Bug is said to kill millions of humans around the world and inflict unimaginable damage on entire civilizations.
For such situations, Kurzgesagt says the environment for the development of nuclear energy is helpful.
Those involved in research and development of nuclear energy have always been aware of the danger of their knowledge being misused and diverted to nuclear weapons. Therefore, access to knowledge and technology in the nuclear field is treated with great care. Basically, researchers do not publish data that can produce nuclear weapons on the Internet.
In biotechnology, it is important to handle information in the same way. We sought.
It is also important to develop specialized tools that can kill any virus before a pandemic hits.
In addition, the speed of vaccine distribution must be accelerated.
Kurzgesagt concludes that by doing these things thoroughly, it is possible to prevent a devastating pandemic that would kill millions of people.
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