Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T06:49:53.954Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bioterrorism and the Fermi Paradox

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2013

Joshua Cooper
Joshua Cooper*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of South Carolina, 1523 Greene St., Columbia, SC 29208, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We proffer a contemporary solution to the so-called Fermi Paradox, which is concerned with conflict between Copernicanism and the apparent paucity of evidence for intelligent alien civilizations. In particular, we argue that every community of organisms that reaches its space-faring age will (1) almost immediately use its rocket-building computers to reverse-engineer its genetic chemistry and (2) self-destruct when some individual uses said technology to design an omnicidal pathogen. We discuss some of the possible approaches to prevention with regard to Homo sapiens’ vulnerability to bioterrorism, particularly on a short-term basis.

Keywords

Fermi paradoxbioterrorismgenetic engineeringbiomalware
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 144 - 148
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brand, S. (1985), Whole Earth Review, May, p. 49.Google Scholar
Church, G.M., Gao, Y. & Kosuri, S. (2012). Science 337(6102), 1628.Google Scholar
Cohen, F. (1987). Comput. Secur. 6, 22–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drake, F. & Sobel, D. (1992). Is Anyone Out There? The Scientific Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Delacorte Press, New York. pp. 55–62.Google Scholar
Drexler, K.E. (1986). Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology. Anchor Books, New York.Google Scholar
Hawks, J., Hunley, K., Lee, S.-H. & Wolpoff, M. (2000). Mol. Biol. Evol. 17(1), 2–22.Google Scholar
Hayden, E.C. (2012). Nature News, http://www.nature.com/news/nanopore-genome-sequencer-makes-its-debut-1.10051.Google Scholar
Herfst, S et al. (2012). Science 336, 1534–1541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Imai, M. et al. (2012). Nature 486, 420–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karr, J.R. et al. (2012). Cell, 150(2), 389–401.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kitamura, N. et al. (1981). Nature 291(5816), 547–553.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Racaniello, V.R. & Baltimore, D. (1981). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78(8), 4887–4891.Google Scholar
Rider, T.H. et al. (2011). PLoS ONE 6(7), e22572.CrossRefGoogle Scholar