The Coming Biological Infowar: US Proposes DNA DatabaseTony Cartalucci While this initial database is composed of volunteers, involuntary blood samples are already collected by US law enforcement agencies around the country and amassed in an existing, and ever-expanding network. Additionally, the new proposal seeks to establish precision medicine as a standard in medical care, implying that everyones DNA will eventually be required by medical practitioners to administer increasingly state-run healthcare. Such information will undoubtedly end up in an expanded, nationwide iteration of this new proposed network. Serial Abusers and Their New Toy While precision medicine is indeed a powerful tool in fighting disease and repairing injury in fact, truly the future of medicine those appointing themselves as its arbiter in the US have already demonstrated they cannot be trusted with such a responsibility. RT would also note in their report that: Indeed, a DNA database would be to our bodies, what the Internet was to our computers with an NSA-like entity invading, abusing, exploiting, and manipulating not just our personal data, but the very genetic code that makes us who we are. The dangers are immense, and the abuse of genetic information has already been eagerly explored by the very special interests driving this new initiative. The prospect of using ones genes against them in the form of genospecific weapons was mentioned in the Neo-Conservative Project for a New American Centurys (PNAC) 2000 report titled, Rebuilding Americas Defenses (.pdf) which stated: Munitions themselves will become increasingly accurate, while new methods of attack electronic, non-lethal, biological will be more widely available. (p.71 of .pdf) Although it may take several decade for the process of transformation to unfold, in time, the art of warfare on air, land, and sea will be vastly different than it is today, and combat likely will take place in new dimensions: in space, cyber-space, and perhaps the world of microbes. (p.72 of .pdf) And advanced forms of biological warfare that can target specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool. (p.72 of .pdf) This targeting will require a database of genetic information which when coupled with the NSAs already omnipresent surveillance will enable the growing police state to locate and target individuals with genospecific weapons with unimaginable precision a literal touch of death on equal to mythological gods able to strike down their enemies at will. How to Have the Best of Both Worlds The race to establish a top-down healthcare system based on genetically-driven precision medicine is done with the knowledge that the democratization of technology, including that involved in biology and genetics, is accelerating toward local labs being able to reproduce or even out-compete developments made by large pharmaceutical giants. This follows the same pattern IT followed, where disruptive technology, institutions, and paradigms allowed for rapid decentralization and downsizing. Small groups of people or even individuals now have a platform online with which to compete against multi-million dollar media studios. Likewise, 3D printing is driving a similar revolution in manufacturing. Do-it-Yourself biology (DIYbio) is now positioned to disrupt the fields of biotech, human health, and medicine. With DIYbio, individuals and communities can manage their own genetic information, sharing it how and when they decide, and work directly on applications to alter, improve, or repair it. The decentralization of this powerful technology also will establish a balance of power. Those with malevolent intentions will be kept in check by the fact that so many more people have a vested interest in preventing the abuse of this technology. Like in the world of IT today, backups, firewalls, and a general knowledge of good practices will help protect the vast majority from the abuse of emerging genetically-driven precision medicine. Already, there is a wealth of information online regarding DIYbio which like its counterpart in IT maintains an open source, collaborative ethos. People, understanding that preventing the use of this technology is impossible, can begin empowering themselves with it to ensure a balance of power is struck to prevent its wide scale abuse. Coincidentally, the proposed decentralization of the Internet by local mesh networks would also serve to build defenses for genetic information stored by individuals on such networks. Establishing and promoting the idea of moving away from all forms of highly centralized systems maintained by serial offenders of our privacy and human rights, by democratizing the very technology they seek to monopolize and use against us, is the first step in winning this new battle before it starts. To read more from Tony Cartalucci, please visit his site LocalOrg, where this first appeared. 