Writeup #3- Ethical Considerations of CRISPR Gene Editing

BioCybersecurity as both a concept and a concern is currently both an underdeveloped field and a underexplored one at that. The primary reason for this rather unknown status is the fact that It only really became a concern less than 20 years ago with the advent of gene editing. An example of a potential problem in the field of BiocyberSecurity is genetic discrimination, in the context of the field. This would be the social or economic reduction of a person based off their genetics, an example of this would be a company no longer giving someone full health insurance coverage based off their vulnerability to certain genetic disorders or even regular illness. Another problem in this field that could be dangerous relates to gene editing, specifically. Human gene editing and whether or not we should even carry through with it. Although gene editing would allow for the treatment of genetic diseases that could’ve been affecting a family tree for generations, the possibility of misuse by ill-intentioned actors is a serious consideration. For example, someone could spoof bioscanners to secure data or locations by engineering a “dummy” print of a authorized person which could very much work if bioscans were the only security system in use for such sensitive data. Another ethical consideration is the potential unfair advantage an engineered or enhanced human would be against a regular human, a enhanced human could be faster, stronger, and even smarter than those who are unedited and without the tools to stand toe-to-toe against them. These edited humans could trounce the average person underneath them. Which is obviously undesirable in all circumstances.

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