Gene editing technologies such as CRISPR are getting cheaper and easier to work with. But it is questionable whether these are adequate in the face of novel approaches. These strictly prohibit states from acquiring or retaining biological weapons.
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How to stop itĭo we stand a chance against such gene-edited pathogens? We have international law conventions on biological and chemical toxins. However, this was designed to be completely fictitious, providing military and defence training without the need to involve real, classified information. And, curiously, the US Department of Defense Strategic Command unit has issued a training programme called CONOP 8888 (Counter-Zombie Dominance), which simulates a zombie apocalypse situation. The plan covers not only deliberate bioterror threats, but also “naturally occurring outbreaks and infectious diseases that escape a lab accidentally”. In 2018, the US government released its first bio-defence strategy, involving multiple government agencies. Given these possibilities, it is not surprising that the director of the US National Intelligence, James Clapper, termed gene editing “weapons of mass destruction and proliferation” in 2018.ĬRISPR can alter single letters in DNA. In the epic zombie film, 28 Days Later, the fictitious “rage virus” was, in fact, inspired by these two real-life viruses. Such a virus would spread rapidly from human to human in a similar manner to diseases such as Ebola and Marburg viruses. But an infection that passed through saliva with extremely high transmission and mortality rate, and which caused agitation, destructive behaviour and death, wouldn’t be far off the horror that we see in zombie movies. If a zombie-like disease could be created, it clearly wouldn’t make deceased people reawaken as zombies. But as biotechnologies improve in the wake of COVID, the risk from bioterrorism is increasing. At the moment, there are probably easier ways to terrorise people. Whether CRISPR could be used to infect humans in a way to make them zombie-like remains a theoretical speculation. The technique may even be able to alter a virus to make it dangerous for a larger range of species than it currently infects, or make it resistant to antibiotics or antivirals. Alternatively, it could turn a non-pathogen, such as a harmless microbe, into an aggressive virus. It could alter pathogens to make them more transmissible or fatal.
Because of its ability to edit the human genome with unprecedented precision, replacing a single letter in the DNA, CRISPR has already proven itself useful in treating genetic conditions such as sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia, and many others.īut CRISPR-Cas9 could theoretically also be used for darker purposes, such as bioterrorism. Interest in this technology has been simmering for a while, with equal doses of excitement and fear. Last year, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognised the development of a type of genetic scissors called CRISPR-Cas9. Other zombification examples from nature include the African sleeping sickness, a fatal neurological condition created by insect-borne parasites, and the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus, which changes the behaviour of carpenter ants before killing them and sprouting out of their heads.Īnt with fungus. The resulting larvae then attaches itself to the spider, feeding on it, while the spider, once a social individual, leaves the colony and prepares to die alone. A recently discovered kind of wasp, for example, can turn a particular species of spider (Anelosimus eximius) into “zombies” by laying eggs on their abdomen. Perhaps the most well known is rabies, which can cause aggression and hallucination and is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.īut there are others. But there are examples of “zombification” in nature. And chances are we still wouldn’t be sufficiently prepared to deal with it.Ī zombie apocalypse may sound far-fetched, reserved for the annals of graphic novels, immersive gaming experiences and popular culture.
What if the threat wasn’t COVID-19, but a gene-edited pathogen designed to turn us into zombies – ghost-like, agitated creatures with little awareness of our surroundings? With recent advances in gene editing, it may be possible for bioterrorists to design viruses capable of altering our behaviour, spreading such a disease and ultimately killing us. And perhaps the most important lesson is that we were completely unprepared to face the debilitating virus. It has been over a year since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Dr Pin Lean Lau is a Lecturer in Bio-Law at Brunel University London
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