Genetic engineering can not only re-create from scratch the most lethal viruses and bacteria, it can make them even more dangerous, reveals a U.S. Department of Defense report spotlighted by Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
And there's "high concern" that terrorists eventually could obtain such a weapon.
"The new report, which was published by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine on June 19, has identified a number of ways that could be used to create biological weapons from today's technologies, including CRISPR," explained Tech Times.
The highest threats included re-creating Ebola or smallpox, making viruses or bacteria more dangerous and creating microbes to "produce and release" toxins, Tech Times said.
"Making viruses or bacteria more harmful to humans could be done by either making them antibiotic resistant or by altering them so that they could produce toxins," the report said.
"Right now, re-creating pretty much any virus can be done relatively easily. It requires a certain amount of expertise and resources and knowledge," said Michael Imperiale, a microbiologist at the University of Michigan.
He headed the committee that created the report.
"Capabilities to do either of those have been around for a long time. They are only becoming more readily available," he said.
The result could be "a new generation of biological weapons," based on the synthetic biology that now is being developed, the report said.
For the rest of this report, and more, please go to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.