How Smallpox Infected Computers

Leonard Adelman writes in his op-ed “Resurrecting Smallpox” that he even though smallpox may have been eradicated from the natural environment, he is “worried, but also amazed. Smallpox has miraculously and unconsciously saved itself through an extraordinary act of evolution.” This statement alludes to the preservation of humankind’s most infamous viral scourge not only in special labs but in a potentially more insidious platform: computers. Adelman acknowledges the ongoing discourse surrounding keeping smallpox around in isolation for science, but he claims that digital storage of the virus’ genome may prove to be more important for determining how feasible the resurrection of smallpox is. In essence, recreating the genome of the virus is made possible by storing the genome sequence digitally, but this wouldn't have happened in 1990 if the virus had truly been eradicated from labs.

While I think that we could have escaped this fate if we actually got rid of the virus, the implications of keeping the genomic information lends the virus some permanence in our world. We could consider banning the machines that recreate and produce DNA strands at will, as the author suggests, but that would never take. In a way, smallpox has effectively evolved again, only this time, humans have made it immemorial. It’s terrifying to think that almost any well-equipped lab could manufacture smallpox, but what is even more grim is the possibility that it could be made into a more virulent weapon. However, we can never live without our computers and compliance from world powers would mean appealing to a common trust in their ability to destroy their stores of smallpox. Both seem pretty unlikely, but hopefully it never gets to the point where hypotheticals concerning smallpox are realized.

-Andrew

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/opinion/resurrecting-smallpox-easier-than-you-think.html