[HN Gopher] What if biohackers injected themselves with mRNA?
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       What if biohackers injected themselves with mRNA?
        
       Author : tosh
       Score  : 28 points
       Date   : 2021-07-07 22:21 UTC (39 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.economist.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.economist.com)
        
       | haneefmubarak wrote:
       | https://archive.is/BNdzl
        
       | ud_0 wrote:
       | As expected, I see the Economist leading the charge against
       | transhumanism here in a near-future scenario I'll call 'the
       | pointless war for a natural and well-regulated humanity':
       | 
       | " _The question now is whether governments can put the genie back
       | in the bottle through concerted, co-ordinated action. Many
       | politicians say the power to tinker with biology is too dangerous
       | to have in the hands even just of doctors and must be regulated._
       | "
       | 
       | Similar arguments are being made regarding the public's access to
       | general-purpose computing, 3D fabrication equipment, AI agents,
       | and indeed: drugs (both psychoactive and medical). Putting this
       | increasing number of "genies back in the bottle" is infeasible
       | and I would argue harmful. We'll be putting an ever-growing
       | amount of our civilization's resources into controlling
       | technologies and behavior just so we can act as if it's still
       | 1975, all while unaccountable mega corporations reap all the
       | benefits of modern technology.
       | 
       | I am utterly unconcerned by what people choose to do to their own
       | bodies and minds. What does keep me up is the potential harm to
       | bystanders, both in premeditated acts of terrorism as well as
       | uncontained accidents. I really don't have an answer to this, but
       | I do know that iron-fisted government control of citizen
       | technology is not going to prevent these horror scenarios.
        
         | an_opabinia wrote:
         | > I am utterly unconcerned by what people choose to do to their
         | own bodies and minds.
         | 
         | I don't know, do you think the world would be better if people
         | could sell their organs? "Voluntarily?" Also, I'm confident you
         | think there should be limits on what children can choose to do
         | with their bodies and minds, and I'm confident the line you
         | draw would be as unsophisticated as an age.
        
       | ajcp wrote:
       | And thus was Iain Banks' Culture universe born.
        
       | perihelions wrote:
       | " _Some doctors are said to be quietly dabbling in mRNA hacking
       | themselves, and even recommending it to patients. For their part,
       | drug companies have called for a clampdown on what they deride as
       | "amateur pharmaceuticals". They have also tried to have some
       | repositories of mRNA molecules taken offline, claiming violation
       | of intellectual property._ "
       | 
       | Also FAANG is shutting down public discussion of this (in the
       | real world, not _Economists_ ' hypothetical).
       | 
       | https://reason.com/2021/06/16/why-did-youtube-remove-this-re...
        
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       (page generated 2021-07-07 23:01 UTC)