Fear Merchants
A novel in quotes with a plot, intrigue, climax and denouement
Compiled by: Mikhail Gelfand
"Trinity variant"
I'll give you a simple example: let's say we create, say, an artificial cell. This artificial cell, on the one hand, is medically important, it can be a diagnostician, it can be a targeted drug deliverer, but, on the other hand, it can be kind of malicious, yes, and then, in fact, one cell that has a genetic code and develops itself is a weapon of mass destruction. At the same time, thanks to the achievements of modern genetics, you can create this cell, ethnogenetically oriented to a specific ethnic group: it can be safe for one ethnic group and harmful, deadly for another. This is the first type of danger, obvious when a fundamentally new weapon of mass destruction appears…
And now it turns out the following: today there is a real technological opportunity (so in the text – VM) in the process of human evolution. And the goal is to create a fundamentally new subspecies of Homo sapiens – a service person. If you watched the movie "Dead Season", you remember well, but then it was some kind of reasoning, and today it becomes biologically possible to do it. The property of the population of service people is very simple: limited self-awareness, and cognitively it is regulated elementary, we see it already happening. The second thing is reproduction management, and the third thing is cheap feed, these are genetically modified products. And that, too, is all ready. So, in fact, today there is already a real technological possibility of bringing out an official subspecies of people.
M. V. Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute Research Center,
performance in
Federation Council 30.09.2015
Genetic engineering, which will certainly give us tremendous opportunities in the field of pharmacology, new drugs, changes in the human code if a person suffers from genetic diseases. Wonderful, because it's so good. But there is another component of this process. What does it mean? This means that a person acquires the opportunity to get into the genetic code created either by nature, or, people with religious views say, by the Lord God. What practical consequences can come from this? This means that it is already possible to imagine it, even not very theoretically, it is already possible to practically imagine that a person can create a person with given characteristics. It can be a brilliant mathematician, it can be a brilliant musician, but it can also be a military man – a man who can fight without fear and without a sense of compassion, regret and without pain.
You understand that humanity can enter and, most likely, will enter in the near future into a very difficult and very responsible period of its development and existence. And what I just said could be scarier than a nuclear bomb.
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation,
performance at the XIX World Festival of Youth and Students on 21.10.2017
You know that biological material is collected all over the country, and by different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical locations of the Russian Federation. Here's the question: why do they do this? They do it purposefully and professionally. We are such and such an object of great interest. Of course, we need to treat this without any fears. Let them do what they want, and we have to do what we have to.
V. V. Putin,
meeting with members of the Human Rights Council on 30.10.2017
To create an artificial virus, and this virus is designed so that, multiplying, it can carry some kind of medicine, let's say (I'm very conditionally speaking). You can make it pathogenic, and then it will be a weapon. And then you can make it ethnoselective, so that it will be directed to a certain ethnic group.
M. V. Kovalchuk,
interview with NTV 31.10.2017
I believe that the accumulated intellectual and scientific potential allows us to organize Large-scale genomic research in Russia. And I ask you to develop an appropriate program in a short time, provide mechanisms to support strong teams, form advanced infrastructure and train personnel. We have just discussed this in detail with representatives of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences.
Both in genetics and in other fields, it is necessary to make greater use of the so-called convergent approach, nature-like technologies. On this basis, we will be able to create new medicines and methods of treating serious diseases, new energy based on technologies of the most careful attitude to resources. I would certainly like to hear your suggestions in this regard.
V. V. Putin,
meeting of the Council for Science and Education 08.02.2018
These developments are very dangerous and are associated with the latest advances in genetics. From what I have seen, what it is about, some drugs are identified that can selectively affect a person in accordance with his belonging to an ethnic group. In the second and third generation, such changes occur that radically change the appearance. If so, it is very dangerous. The one who develops it should understand that others will do it as well.
V. V. Putin,
meeting of the Valdai Club on 18.10.2018
The Ministry of Education and Science proposes to allocate 220.5 billion rubles for the development of genetic technologies within the framework of the federal scientific and technical program designed for 2019-2027. This is stated in the draft government decree on the approval of the program, published on Friday on the federal portal of draft regulations.
The implementation of the program is designed to "reduce the critical dependence of Russian science on foreign databases of genetic and biological data, foreign specialized software and devices," the program passport says. Bioinformatic and genetic databases, basic reagents and software products and equipment prototypes should be created in Russia.
The Kurchatov Institute will become the main scientific organization.
TASS 09.11.2018
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