They just don’t give up do they?
Kevin Esvelt, an MIT biologist, said people in his own lab could theoretically assemble a dangerous virus from DNA ordered on the internet for under $1,000.
Once pandemic-capable viruses are identified, thousands of people worldwide have the scientific training to make them from mail-ordered synthetic DNA.
"Imagine a world where you can order weapons-grade plutonium in the mail," he said, "and there are thousands of engineers who have the skills to put together something that might be a bomb."
…skipping a few paragraphs of bla,bla,bla…
Panjabi described some of the strategy’s goals and timelines in a webinar this fall:
*** Testing: Enable testing for a new pathogen within 12 hours, surge testing within a week and pathogen-specific testing within 30 days**
*** Vaccination: A new vaccine should be developed within 100 days, enough manufactured for the entire U.S. population within 130 days, and for high-risk populations around the world within 200 days.**
*** Treatment: Drugs should be repurposed within 90 days and new therapeutics developed within 180 days.**
"Time is lives in an emergency," he said. "How well we respond depends on how well we prepare."