As I learn more about the bio risk I've been studying, I'm settling in for a long-term effort. There's one experiment nearing completion that initially looked extremely risky, but I've come to think it's probably within the bounds of acceptable risk. It seems that already-existing organisms are enough like the organism being created, so that there will (probably) be parasites waiting for it if it's accidentally released.
However, I remain unconvinced that the broader class of experiments is safe, in the sense of unlikely to create harm. And if harm does happen, I remain unconvinced that the worst-case plausible scenario is at all acceptable.
So I'll keep learning about the various issues involved - ecology, population dynamics, molecular biology, invasive species, bacteriology - and I'll keep talking with the relevant researchers about what I learn. Meanwhile, I'll be re-directing some of my focus back to CRN.
If you haven't seen it, I thought the comment in the article below about how they tried making it "unlikely" that Wheat Rust could get past combinations of 6 stem rust resistent genes might ring a bell...
Wheat Rust
Posted by: Tom Craver | June 16, 2009 at 09:36 PM