Biosecurity

The Genetics Revolution is Already Here and Has Major National Security Implications

When most of us think about genetic technologies, healthcare comes to mind for some very good reasons. Our growing understanding of how our genes impact how our bodies function has made possible incredible medical innovations to treat and even cure some truly awful genetic diseases. But our genomes don’t just underpin our health, they are the blueprints of much of our lives.

Because our lives are about much more than our healthcare, the impact of the genetics revolution will extend far beyond the realm of health. It will change the way we assess our risks and opportunities, the way we make babies, our lifespans, the nature of the babies we make, and ultimately our evolutionary trajectory as a species. It will have massive national security implications.

As this transformation plays out, the applications of genetic technologies to alter the genetic inheritance of human beings will become increasingly controversial. Think about how agitated people have become over genetically modified organism (GMO) crops, even though there is not a lick of evidence to suggest that consuming GMO crops is any more dangerous for people than non-GMO crops.