Next up on the list of really scary shit...

[Grat3fulh3ad]

Pentagon Looks to Breed Immortal ‘Synthetic Organisms,’ Molecular Kill-Switch Included

The Pentagon’s mad science arm may have come up with its most radical project yet. Darpa is looking to re-write the laws of evolution to the military’s advantage, creating “synthetic organisms” that can live forever — or can be killed with the flick of a molecular switch.

As part of its budget for the next year, Darpa is investing $6 million into a project called BioDesign, with the goal of eliminating “the randomness of natural evolutionary advancement.” The plan would assemble the latest bio-tech knowledge to come up with living, breathing creatures that are genetically engineered to “produce the intended biological effect.” Darpa wants the organisms to be fortified with molecules that bolster cell resistance to death, so that the lab-monsters can “ultimately be programmed to live indefinitely.”

Of course, Darpa’s got to prevent the super-species from being swayed to do enemy work — so they’ll encode loyalty right into DNA, by developing genetically programmed locks to create “tamper proof” cells. Plus, the synthetic organism will be traceable, using some kind of DNA manipulation, “similar to a serial number on a handgun.” And if that doesn’t work, don’t worry. In case Darpa’s plan somehow goes horribly awry, they’re also tossing in a last-resort, genetically-coded kill switch:

Develop strategies to create a synthetic organism “self-destruct” option to be implemented upon nefarious removal of organism.

The project comes as Darpa also plans to throw $20 million into a new synthetic biology program, and $7.5 million into “increasing by several decades the speed with which we sequence, analyze and functionally edit cellular genomes.”

Of course, Darpa’s up against some vexing, fundamental laws of nature — not to mention bioethics — as they embark on the lab beast program. First, they might want to rethink the idea of evolution as a random series of events, says NYU biology professor David Fitch. “Evolution by selection is nota random process at all, and is actually a hugely efficient design algorithm used extensively in computation and engineering,” he e-mails Danger Room.

Even if Darpa manages to overcome the inherent intelligence of evolutionary processes, overcoming inevitable death can be tricky. Just ask all the other research teams who’ve made stabs at it, trying everything from cell starvation to hormone treatments. Gene therapy, where artificial genes are inserted into an organism to boost cell life, are the latest and greatest in life-extension science, but they’ve only been proven to extend lifespan by 20 percent in rats.

But suppose gene therapy makes major strides, and Darpa does manage to get the evolutionary science right. They’ll also have a major ethical hurdle to jump. Synthetic biology researchers are already facing the same questions, as a 2009 summary from the Synthetic Biology Project reports:

The concern that humans might be overreaching when we create organisms that never before existed can be a safety concern, but it also returns us to disagreements about what is our proper role in the natural world (a debate largely about non-physical harms or harms to well-being).

Even expert molecular geneticists don’t know what to make of the project. Either that, or they’re scared Darpa might sic a bio-bot on them. “I would love to comment, but unfortunately Darpa has installed a kill switch in me,” one unnamed expert tells Danger Room.



Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/201...molecular-kill-switch-included/#ixzz0ej5e6HtE

Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/201...molecular-kill-switch-included/#ixzz0ej51qSM4

 

[try comb]

 

[Classyathome]

This can't be good...

 

[antimatter]

sign me up

 

[SOTF420]

...and people are still going to jail for growing and smoking pot. Unreal.

They need to throw these fucking lunatics in jail!

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

we have entered the beginning of the end... Shits gonna get crazy.

 

[StellarP]

Blade Runner.....

 

[SOTF420]

They will be encoded with the mark of the beast.

 

[JBlaze]

I thought that was our social security number?

 

[SpasticGramps]

Oh shit, genetic engineering already lol. Who knows what Top Secret Classified projects they have going on. I reckon many would make you squirm in your seat more than a little bit. This is just what we know.

Here's my take on what's coming. Because technological development is exponential and has been the key component in human evolution these kind of ethical application questions are going to become more frequent and with heavier social consequences.

The idea of the United States Military industrial complex playing around with evolution is quite disturbing.

 

[cyberwax]

progress aint always sweet

 

[Grat3fulh3ad]

I've seen too many movies to think this can possibly go anywhere but "late nite sci-fi/horror"...

 

[Bionic]

Cloverfield!

 

[SpasticGramps]

Definitely going to put the Boogieman, Werewolf, and Vampires out of business. They'll be the good guys. You'll you be telling your kids. "OK, the Boogieman is in your closet. It's all good."

 

[Littleleaf]

Just wounder if they are in underground facilities.
In the end of days grasshoppers with a sting of a scorpion will come from below ground.

 

[SoCaliSmoker]

Hhhhh..... government programs.

Can you believe this shit? I'm sure they "announced" it now but have probably been working on it for the last 20 years. In a scientific and technological age that we're in, things can only be bigger and better and I'm sure in the next 20 years they'll have it all figured out.

Why send humans to war when we can send organisms that can't die! WOW - LOL. I wonder if they can think at least? Can they operate in a stressful situation (do they even know what stress is), can they function as a unit, can they talk, things like that. If they can, you can probably eliminate prisoners of war because they'll have no compassion to kill everything in sight. Including us one day.

The "power off" switch sounds nice on paper but what happens if the coded whatever doesn't want to turn off. What if you literally CAN'T KILL the thing that CAN'T DIE. Then we'll really have some shit on our hands. Especially if THEY get upset with us......

 

[antimatter]

zombies?

 

[A-Loc]

i give it a little more than 2 years and 10 months before the shit totally hits the fan...

 

[hamstorg]

Can't wait to get my Mad Max costume frm the dry cleaners.

 

[bentom187]

holy shit, if they think a living creature wont evolve past the kill switch they are increadabley nieve.i just keep thinking about jurasic park when jeff goldblume say nature always finds a way.i cant imagine what the govt has planned to use it on,what do they need that technology for, its comming out of darpa so its intent is to destroy a enemy but whos gonna control it? the highest bidder since they are contractors or national defence? or is it for complete control of the population. its scary if you ask me.we are gonna destory ouselves or nature is,i cant beleive there's a price that a person would pay to destroy the human race this tech should be left alone.