Question: What dangers could pose as a risk witb creating new life forms in the lab?

Sarah Montgomery answered on 16 Nov 2020:

Great question! It is possible to create all kinds of lifeforms in the lab, including viruses which are not technically “alive” in the usual sense (since they don’t eat anything or make copies of themselves without a host).

Scientists have made a new type of mosquito which, if released in the wild, will prevent other wild mosquitos breeding. The technology is called a “gene drive”, and it could be used to stop the spread of malaria, which is passed from person to person through mosquitos. But wiping out mosquitos could have other, unintended effects on the wider ecosystem. For example, birds, lizards and fish may struggle to find enough food without mosquitos and their larvae. Even though malaria kills many thousands of people every year, we have to be very careful and test this approach on small islands first to see what happens.

It is also possible for scientists to re-create bacteria and viruses which have been mostly wiped out. In theory, someone could make a new smallpox virus and release it into the population, making a lot of people sick. I think it’s unlikely that anyone would do this though, because they would get caught, and they could easily give the disease to themselves and their friends before it reached anyone else!

There’s a whole field of research called “biocontainment” which is about finding good ways to stop natural or man-made lifeforms getting out into the world and causing trouble by accident. In general, we have good ways to keep everything in the lab, and the artificial lifeforms I work with are actually pretty weak and useless. They can only survive in a warm incubator with lots of food.

Also, we generally have a good understanding of how bacteria and other animals breed and evolve, so I think it’s unlikely that we would accidentally “create a monster”! Scientists have been tinkering with life for about fifty years now, and I can’t think of any obvious examples where something really unexpected has happened. Humans have caused more trouble by releasing natural but non-native plants and animals into the environment, for example grey squirrels and Signal crayfish which out-competed the natives in the UK.