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By Emmanuel Ukaobasi
The 13th annual Aspen Security Forum took place recently in Aspen Colorado, North America. It is a non-partisan public venue for global leaders to discuss the most pressing national security and foreign policy challenges of our time.
Founded in 1949, the Aspen institute’s stated aim is the realization of a free, just and equitable society through seminars and policy programs. However, an unaccustomed air of foreboding reportedly hung over the 13th security forum as the global leaders in military, diplomacy, politics , justice , bankers , and arts began brainstorming on the security threat posed by the proliferation of biological and chemical weapons to humanity.
The United States lawmakers, Representative Jason Crow and Senator Joni Ernst warned at the forum the about the risks posed by DNA testing services, claiming sophisticated weapons could use that information to ‘’target’’ individuals.
“There are now weapons under development, and developed, that are designed to target specific populations based on their DNA , said crow, a democrat who represents parts of Colorado.
‘That’s what this is where you can actually take someone’s DNA, their medical profile, and you can target a biological weapon that will kill that person or take them off the battle field or make them inoperable.’’ .Crow a former Army Ranger, reportedly said . ‘’people will very rapidly spit in a cup and send it to companies like 23 and Me and get really interesting data about their background and guess what? Their DNA is now owned by a private company,’’ he affirmed .
The 23 and Me holding company is a publicly held personal genomics and biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California. Beyond concerns of privacy and who owns your DNA, Crow revealed that the DNA data ‘’is going to be procured and collected by our adversaries for the development of weapons systems that target a specific DNA trait or category.’’
Crow revealed that ‘’In April 2021, I reported on another claim regarding DNA testing, this time from U.S Intelligence officials warning against providing health data to Chinese company, BGI Group, the largest biotech firm in the world.’’ He noted that CBS 60minutes reported that shortly after the covid-19 panic began, BGI had discussed building Covid-19 test labs in at least six states in the US including New York and California.
Natalie Winter, an American Senior investigative journalist at the National Pulse, also uncovered documentation of a relationship between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and BGI going back nearly a decade. Winter found a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Gates Foundation and BGI to ‘’ form a collaboration on global health and agricultural development with the goal of achieving common objectives in health and agricultural development.’’
Instructively, the infamous Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) the research arm of the U.S Military has been working on various genomic research projects, including attempting to ‘’hack’’ the DNA of insects for warfare. It recently awarded $5m in grant to DNA script, a disruptic DNA synthesis company, to work with the vaccine manufacturing company, Moderna, on the development of a prototype system for mobile therapeutic and vaccine manufacture as part of the agency’s Nucletic Acids on-demand world-wide program to plan for and prevent the next viral pandemic.
The research program which reportedly is already underway in four different trials in the US , is now attracting consternation from biologists and ethicists who reportedly argue that this new technology poses a biosafety risk and could easily be turned in to a new kind of biological weapon . It is reported to be part of a program called “Insect Allies” that over four years will provide over $47million in funding to research groups trying to develop a way of using insect-delivered viruses to edit crops in the field.
Another potentially dangerous program DARPA is currently working on is the Epigenetic Characterization and Observation [ECHO]. The program reportedly aims to diminish the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction [WMD]. ECHO technology would , according to reports , read someone’s epigenome from a biological sample such as a finger prick or nasal swab , and conduct analysis to reveal possible exposure events even when other physical evidence has been erased . DARPA envisions that the same technology could provide rapid diagnositics for troops who may be suffering from infections, providing a timely signal to apply effective countermeasures.
Epigenome is a part of human biology that helps the body to respond to the constantly changing world around us – and identifying the epigenetic signatures indicative of WMD precursor, or infectious disease exposure. Medical experts say though a person’s underlying genetic code is stable, life events can leave discernible marks on the genome that modify how genes are expressed. Epigenetic modifications can reportedly register within seconds to minutes. They can potentially imprint the genome for decades, leaving a unique time-stamped biography of an individual’s exposures.
Global leaders at the Aspen Security forum were reportedly worried that DARPA has become the largest funder of “gene drive’’ research that could possibly be used for military purposes. The agency has invested $100m in genetic extinction technologies that could wipe out mosquitoes, invasive rodents or other species.
But UN experts say fears over possible military uses and unintended consequences strengthen case for a ban. DARPA’s hacking of insects with virus DNA is currently raising fears of dangerous new bio-weapons. It was on this grounds that Senator Ernst warned at the Aspen Forum that “If we look at food security and what can our adversaries do with biological weapons that are directed at our animal agriculture, agricultural sector… highly pathogenic avian influenza, African swine fever , .. , we know that it brings about food insecurity.’’ She reportedly added that ‘’Food insecurity drives a lot of other insecurities around the globe.
• Ukaobasi is a public affairs analyst
