… Exponential advances in the life sciences, particularly in the realm of biotechnology, have been held to raise the classic concerns of “dual-use” research:
The same technologies that propel scientific advances critical to human health, the environment and economic growth also could be misused to develop biological weapons, including for bioterrorism.
However, there is significant disagreement as to whether this depiction appropriately frames the nature of the problem:
Some scientists have characterized the prevailing policy discourse on the life sciences as the “half-pipe of doom,” a bipolar approach that artificially disaggregates and decontextualizes the promise and peril of advances in the life sciences.
