US lawmakers and military experts are warning Americans about the risks posed by DNA testing services, saying sophisticated weapons could use the information to “target” individuals.
“Now there are weapons that are in development and have been developed that are designed to target certain people,” Congressman Jason Crowe, a Democrat who represents parts of Colorado, said Friday, according to the Washington Examiner.
“This is where you can actually take someone’s DNA … their medical profile and you can target a bioweapon that will kill that person or take them off the battlefield or incapacitate them,” he reportedly said. explained at the Aspen Security Forum.
Crowe, a former Army Ranger first elected in 2018, expects America’s enemies to get hold of information provided by companies like 23andMe.
“People will very quickly spit in a cup and send it to 23andMe and get some really interesting data about their background — and guess what? Their DNA is now owned by a private company,” he said, according to the article.
“Now there are weapons that are in development and have been developed that are designed to target specific people,” explained Congressman Jason Crowe. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Sipa USA DNA can be used to create targeted biological weapons. Getty Images/iStockphoto
“So we need to have an open and public discussion … about what does protecting health information, DNA information and your data look like? Because that data will actually be procured and collected by our adversaries to develop those systems.
An advanced biochemical weapon used to harm certain people using their DNA is part of the plot of No Time to Die, the latest film in the James Bond series.
Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned that US enemies are deliberately spreading disease and harming agriculture, which in turn is causing food shortages.
Senator Joni Ernst warned of enemies of the US who are deliberately spreading disease and harming agriculture. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
“If we look at food security and what our adversaries can do with biological weapons that target our livestock, our agricultural sector … highly pathogenic avian influenza, African swine fever,” Ernst said, according to The Examiner.
“All these things have gone around the world, but if they’re directed at an adversary, we know it leads to food insecurity,” she added. “Food insecurity leads to many other insecurities around the world.”
Army General Richard Clarke, who heads the US Special Operations Command, has reportedly spoken ominously about the Kremlin’s use of a nerve agent to try to kill Sergei Skripal.
“Russia is ready to use them against political opponents. They are prepared to use them on their own soil, but then to go into the territory of a NATO ally in the UK and use them… and as we go into the future we need to be prepared for [those] eventualities,” he said.
“And I don’t think we’re talking about it as much as we should, and we’re not looking for methods to continue the fight.”
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