Source: Cryptogon
23andme.mil?
Don’t laugh. Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of 23andMe,
was one of the briefers on this. As you may or may not know, Wojcicki is married to Google ’s Sergey
Brin.
I don’t know what’s more terrifying to consider: What
the military is going to do with this, or what Google is
going to do with this.
Via: Federation of American Scientists:
The technology for sequencing human DNA is
advancing so rapidly and the cost is dropping so
quickly that the number of individuals whose DNA
has been mapped is expected to grow “from
hundreds of people (current) to millions of people
(probably within three years), ” according to a new
report to the Pentagon (pdf) from the JASON defense
science advisory panel. The Defense Department
should begin to take advantage of the advances in
“ personal genomics technology” by collecting
genetic information on all military personnel, the
panel advised.
…
For military purposes, it will be up to the Department
of Defense “to determine which phenotypes… have
special relevance to military performance and
medical cost containment ” and then presumably to
select for those. “These phenotypes might pertain to
short- and long-term medical readiness, physical and
medical performance, and response to drugs,
vaccines, and various environmental exposures ….
More specifically, one might wish to know about
phenotypic responses to battlefield stress, including
post-traumatic stress disorder, the ability to tolerate
conditions of sleep deprivation, dehydration, or
prolonged exposure to heat, cold, or high altitude, or
the susceptibility to traumatic bone fracture,
prolonged bleeding, or slow wound healing.”
“Both offensive and defensive military operations
may be impacted by the applications of personal
genomics technologies through enhancement of the
health, readiness, and performance of military
personnel. It may be beneficial to know the genetic
identities of an adversary and, conversely, to prevent
an adversary from accessing the genetic identities of
U.S. military personnel.”
Full Article at BlackListed News
Tweet