Could a genetically engineered bioweapon wipe out most of the human race?

Could a genetically engineered bioweapon wipe out most of the human race?

  • Yes

    Votes: 48 60.0%
  • No

    Votes: 12 15.0%
  • It depends

    Votes: 20 25.0%

  • Total voters
    80
With an absolute like "whatsoever" one would expect 100%.
Immunity can be provided by a secondary effect of a genetic mutation that also provides a different effect, for example the CCR5-D32 genes that provide nearly complete immune to HIV infection.
A geneered pathogen would be designed so no-one has immunity.
 
What good is a bioweapon that will kill its developer/user? Use of this type of weapon is the same as using a nuclear hand grenade.
 
Wells's Sterilising Inhalation.

Savalas-Blofeld-1024x768.jpg
 
The technology does not exist at this time. While the human genome has been mapped, we still don't know what all of the elements of our genes actually do yet.

Take a look at this link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC114026/
Its not new tech, its not even that complicated. Fortunately only done with a mouse virus.
0% mortality to 100% mortality from one gene insertion. We dont need to know everything to find one dangerous gene..Even high mortality in attenuated virus pre-immune which is a very potent form of vaccine.


The problem is not making something lethal, its making it lethal and secure that the host survive long enough to pass on the infection. The reason why bird flu still scares officials so much is that its highly lethal (but below 50%) and sufficiently contageous to spread, but it cannot approach 100% mortality while doing that.
I really dont think we should find a solution to that problem.
 
Take a look at this link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC114026/
Its not new tech, its not even that complicated. Fortunately only done with a mouse virus.
0% mortality to 100% mortality from one gene insertion. We dont need to know everything to find one dangerous gene..Even high mortality in attenuated virus pre-immune which is a very potent form of vaccine.


The problem is not making something lethal, its making it lethal and secure that the host survive long enough to pass on the infection. The reason why bird flu still scares officials so much is that its highly lethal (but below 50%) and sufficiently contageous to spread, but it cannot approach 100% mortality while doing that.
I really dont think we should find a solution to that problem.

I agree with that

My point is basically yours... we can make killers, but making durable killers that can be transmitted long enough to achieve the goal of the scenario presented here seems unlikely based on where we are now as far as knowledge is concerned.
 
All of humanity, no, that would be very difficult. Most of humanity, a lot more possible. It would require both a robust engineered disease that can survive in most environments and also a covert effort to introduce the disease into as many areas as possible so that simple quarantine is less effective (would require a lot of luck to not be detected). Hard to imagine anyone being so absolutely evil as to want to wipe out everyone everywhere, and I doubt that the technology is there yet. Still, it might be possible in the near future...
 
Just make the Common Cold more virulent and long lasting. After a few months of a constant Cold people would probably willingly kill themselves.

Can you tell I have a Cold at the moment.
 

missouribob

Banned
What good is a bioweapon that will kill its developer/user? Use of this type of weapon is the same as using a nuclear hand grenade.
Ideally your regime would want to develop a vaccine. Hell if I was Kim Jong Un my second priority after the nuclear program would be biological weapons. Worst case scenario as the Americans are busting down your door you release a super-plague like something out of "the Stand" and take the whole world with you. Best case scenario you release it before they invade AND you've gotten enough vaccine's covertly produced for you to keep control. It would be a wonderful thing to be the only nation-state left on earth after such an event. The whole world would speak Korean in a 100 years...
 
I would agree with your assessment missouribob if the bioweapon was guaranteed to never mutate from its original state. Fortunately Mother Nature always mutates/changes all viruses. What works today in a vaccine may not work a few months down the road. Just ask any one if the vaccine developed for last years flu strain will work this year?
 
I think we could see it, but it would have to be multiple illnesses, maybe up to two or three dozen all at once. Then add chaos and nations using nuclear weapons, because that will happen. I personally do not know how many but 99% is not impossible in my view. The scariest thing is all it would take is 1-2 people at most. 1 guy to get the diseases and mutate them, and that person can spread the plagues all by themselves.
 

missouribob

Banned
I would agree with your assessment missouribob if the bioweapon was guaranteed to never mutate from its original state. Fortunately Mother Nature always mutates/changes all viruses. What works today in a vaccine may not work a few months down the road. Just ask any one if the vaccine developed for last years flu strain will work this year?
Fair enough but look at the list of options for a regime like North Korea.
1. Use your nuclear weapons against the Allies. Get overthrown after collapsing South Korea, reverting Japan to a third world country and hitting a few American cities.
2. Use your biological weapons in an attempt to wipe the earth clean of non-Korean peoples (the North Koreans are extremely racist anyway) and destroy ALL of your enemies including the United States.

It should be obvious that even if option two has setbacks (like the idea that the virus could mutate one day OR that you aren't able to manage the transition to being the only nation-state left and North Korea still collapses) it is preferable because it causes the most damage to your enemies. If you are going down you might as well take down the ones you hate as well.
 
I will not disagree with your assessment of North Korean logic, or lack there of. My point remains the same, biological weapons are not controllable, they will change and therefore the idea of destroying mankind is a not a valid one. Humans are tough, far tougher than we think and with viruses changing rapidly, so too do people and their immune systems. Please look at the Black Death (plague) and the Spanish Flu epidemic. Granted neither one were weapons but their effect on man was huge. Neither one destroyed all of mankind.
 

missouribob

Banned
I will not disagree with your assessment of North Korean logic, or lack there of. My point remains the same, biological weapons are not controllable, they will change and therefore the idea of destroying mankind is a not a valid one. Humans are tough, far tougher than we think and with viruses changing rapidly, so too do people and their immune systems. Please look at the Black Death (plague) and the Spanish Flu epidemic. Granted neither one were weapons but their effect on man was huge. Neither one destroyed all of mankind.
Right but they also weren't created in a lab with the intent to have 99.9 percent death rates...
 
Does it need to be 99.9% effective. If enough working age people die then society collapses because without enough farmers no food, no factory workers no production, no people to crew an oil tanker no fuel. I am fairly intelligent but without a supermarket full of goodies I would only last as long as the food in the house lasted.

To completely wipe out humans you don't need a disease to kill humans just a disease to kill off Bees and other pollinators.
 
The OP asked how "to kill off most of the human race, à la Ebola Shiva" and not every single human being. If you can accept 7 million survivors it would mean 99 % effectiveness.
And the "Ebola Shiva" scenario is, unfortunately, quite plausible in my opinion.
 
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King Thomas

Banned
A form of AIDS that spreads by breathing without even causing a cough-and only goes into action 10 to 15 years later, by which time it has spread across almost the whole world, would kill most humans.
 
Right now ITTL France has a Revanchist Authoritarian government and it was a young Django Reinhardt who just caught stealing chickens from the Sjostedt farm.

A form of AIDS that spreads by breathing without even causing a cough-and only goes into action 10 to 15 years later, by which time it has spread across almost the whole world, would kill most humans.

Thats exactly it. Now, how do you make that?
Its a major project in its own right. Requires a lot of test subjects.
 

King Thomas

Banned
You sound like a super villain. I think if we used this forum to discuss how to kill the human race the mods would not exactly be happy about it.
 
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