Target Acquired

About the Book

Recent advances in genomics and genetic engineering have led to a plethora of new insights and discoveries about human history, evolution, and migrations, as well as to the unmasking of fundamental information about people’s unique traits – including their likenesses and differences, as well as their varying susceptibilities to diseases. Nowhere has this been more striking than in the field of infectious diseases, where human genomic differences can now be leveraged to manufacture transmissible microorganisms that can infect people selectively while leaving other people unscathed. The result is a rapidly increasing potential for the precise targeting of biological warfare agents against both adversaries and ordinary citizens alike. All that is necessary is to identify systematic differences in the genomic make-up of different people and societal subgroups to develop microbiologic agents that will target their unique genomic characteristics selectively. In the wrong hands, such capabilities can be used to control both the attitudes and behaviors of entire human populations, and to subjugate and conquer them. These new gene editing techniques mean that biological warfare agents have a new capability that permits person-specific viruses to be created and dispersed to find their “targets.” Moreover, those who control the libraries of human genomic information can selectively target anyone, anywhere, anytime, for any reason – all without risk of traceability, accountability, or culpability. As early attempts to humanize viruses such as SARS (SARS CoV-1), MERS (MERS-CoV), and COVID-19 (SARS CoV-2) have demonstrated, guarding against the use of weaponized viruses for such malign control of individuals and even whole societies will be the next great challenge faced by humanity.

About the Author

Gerard G. Nahum, MD relies on his training as a physician, engineer, and pharmaceutical developer for inspiration. While an undergraduate, medical student, and professor at Yale, Stanford, and Duke Universities, he published more than sixty peer-reviewed scientific and medical articles. More recently, he has authored three nonfiction books, two children’s books, one novel, and one work of science fiction.