To my knowledge CRISPR is used as a sort of “gene therapy.” It has been around for a while now because we had a similar discussion about it in my AP biology class when I was a senior in high school several years ago. Our discussion back then went the route of using CRISPR to edit certain biological deformities out of our DNA so we could not pass them on to our children. For example, there are people with certain genes that make them more likely to have children with mental illnesses. The idea was that they can take that DNA and change it so that the probability of having those children with mental illness goes away. Is it ethical to do this? I believe that the answer to that question is purely subjective. Some people would make the argument that we are playing with natural forces that only God should be able to control. Others believe that the outcome of taking away these probabilities of mental illness justify the means. In my opinion there is no right or wrong answer, but the idea of changing and documenting DNA is very scary. The thing about human evolution is that we change at a rate that is hard for our minds to comprehend sometimes. One day we might find ourselves looking at this and accepting it like it was taking ibuprofen for a headache. It was only 500 years ago that we would torture criminals because we thought that they were possessed by demons, and you may think 500 years is a long time but in reality it is a very small fraction of our history.

As far as BioCybersecurity goes they are talking about using it to document our genes and translating it to binary code for malicious use. The idea stated that there may be advantages to documenting DNA this way for research and development, but as of right now, I believe the cons out way the pros. A certain level of security must be established before we start documenting people’s DNA. In one of the articles of the reading monitor, they were talking about identity theft. You can change a social security number, but you can not change your DNA. If someone were to get a hold of you biological signature, who knows what might happen or what uses they will have for it.