Flu genome is open source
I disagree with Ray Kurzweil in this one.
In an article published in the NYTIMES, titled Recipe for Destruction, found via future salon, Kurzweil and Joy argue that publishing the entire flu genome was a mistake:
To shed light on how the virus evolved, the United States Department of Health and Human Services published the full genome of the 1918 influenza virus on the Internet in the GenBank database. This is extremely foolish. The genome is essentially the design of a weapon of mass destruction. No responsible scientist would advocate publishing precise designs for an atomic bomb, and in two ways revealing the sequence for the flu virus is even more dangerous.
Not quite: precisely, to maintain that information secret, or in the hands of a few throughly informed but unknown superpowers, that would have been a mistake.
Let me explain my counterintuitive point of view.
First, secrets held by the superpowers have always been in the interest of a few. Disclosure of these secrets actually create a more open discussion.
Second, knowledge is a tool that empowers people, even incorrect knowledge.
Third, the presence of that genome online allows also the possibility of other scientists working on answers, some of which will be unorthodox, and most of which will completely challenge the status quo.
Through history we have seen that access to privileged information only hinders progress, and that when alternatives are proposed, these can be disqualified because they don't conform to the accepted worldview. Case in point, malaria, and the vaccine proposed by Patarroyo. What is clear in this case is that secrecy, in this case the bog pharma, is hindering progress in research,m regardless of the effectiveness of Patarroyo's vaccine.
And the recipe for creating an atomic bomb is, right now, required course in some postdegree programs. We all talk about tipping points and critical mass. So, here are the nukes?
Most likely, what we will see is a renewed interest in the development of alternative methods of testing for and finding cures for diseases such as Spanish Flu. Think Open Source. Think more researchers asking why, and finding cures faster than the US Government approved, FEMA appointed, traditional physicians. I do prefer one rogue solution to a deadly pandemic, instead of the efforts of big pharma companies to restrict their research and medicines to the wealthy.
Right now we are living amidst a social revolution, one in which knowledge can be transparently shared, and great things come out of that.
UPDATE: Jamais Cascio makes pretty much the same argument at World Changing, and gives a previous example of collaboration:
Open access to this kind of information is of much greater use to people trying to defend us all from pandemics than to those few who might try to attack us. As with software source code, openness to a multitude of eyes provides far more security than does secrecy. A handful of researchers, operating under classified conditions, will not be able to learn as much about the functioning of a virus than could thousands or even millions of researchers around the world.