The fact that the American military department is collecting genetic data from citizens of our country (including specific biological materials) became known this week. According to information voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Human Rights Council, such monitoring is carried out in different regions of Russia. It is interesting that the American side did not deny such activities carried out through the mediation of a number of structures. However, the explanations presented raised doubts both among our politicians and diplomats, as well as among specialists in this field of scientific activity.
In this regard, some experts again started talking about the forgotten topic of developing genetic weapons - a means of destruction based on selective influence on various ethnic groups of people. According to some analysts, we may be talking about resuming research in this area, this time with “practical experiments.”
"Scientists" in camouflage
Information about the collection of biomaterials ongoing in Russia was voiced at a meeting of the Human Rights Council, when one of the meeting participants complained about the monitoring of Russian citizens carried out by certain individuals using video surveillance systems. In response to this, the head of state cited information that caused the effect of a bomb exploding. “Images are okay, but do you know that biological material is collected all over the country? - Vladimir Putin stunned the meeting participants. - Moreover, for different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical locations of the Russian Federation. Question: why do they do it? They do it purposefully and professionally. We are an object of great interest." Later, the Russian President’s information was expanded by his press secretary Dmitry Peskov. According to him, such activities are carried out by “some emissaries, representatives of non-governmental organizations and other bodies,” and the head of state receives information about this work through the Russian special services.
The facts voiced by the Russian President were confirmed by a number of media outlets. Moreover, the information that journalists managed to find out turned out to be even more shocking. It turns out that the collection of genetic data in Russia is organized not even by scientific organizations, not by the scientific community, but... by US law enforcement agencies! In particular, as reporters found out, the contract for the purchase of biomaterials, posted on the American government procurement website Federal Business Opportunity, was intended for the Air Training Command (AETC). The customer required 12 samples of ribonucleic acid (one of the main macromolecules contained in the cells of living organisms) and 27 samples of the synovial membrane, which produces the fluid necessary for the functioning of joints. At the same time, the potential supplier, when transferring samples, was also required to provide all information about the health status of the donors.
Interestingly, the American side was surprisingly prompt, explaining the need for “research of the musculoskeletal system to identify various biomarkers associated with injuries.” The customer for the work, according to AETC spokesman Beau Downey, was the 59th Medical Air Group of the US Air Force, while the choice of Russians to collect the biomaterial, according to him, was not intentional. Some scientists also rushed to justify the military’s actions. Thus, Konstantin Severinov, a professor at Rutgers University in the USA and part-time at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, noted that RNA samples can be collected for scientific purposes. “The more you know about the genetic diversity of people, the more opportunities you have, in particular, to treat and diagnose diseases,” the expert said. “The genetic background and the extent to which differences in genes are responsible for other differences in people are still not understood and are the subject of study.”
Weapons of selective extermination
The need for promising scientific developments and joint work in various branches of science is not questioned by anyone in the scientific community. For example, as the head of the Russian company Genotek Valery Ilyinsky said, in our country two centers are engaged in collecting biomaterial for US laboratories, and the main goal of these studies is to study the genetic diversity of different ethnic groups in Russia and search for differences between them. As the expert notes, this is necessary, for example, in order to understand what diseases affect people. “Our American colleagues have the necessary laboratory facilities and funding to carry out such work,” emphasizes Valery Ilyinsky.
However, why are the military concerned with such a specific scientific direction? In this regard, a version has again appeared about the possibility of the existence of genetic weapons - a type of biological weapon designed to selectively defeat the population based on race, ethnicity, gender or other genetically determined characteristics. The possibility of developing such a weapon was quite visible for some time. It is no coincidence that according to the Geneva Protocol of 1925, as well as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, adopted in 1975, activities in this area were prohibited.
It is believed that the effect of genetic weapons is based on the defeat of a selected part of the population by artificially bred pathogenic microorganisms. For example, men as potential soldiers or any nationality disliked by anyone. Carriers of certain sets of chromosomes or other genetic differences were affected. In the 2000s, at the height of the military campaign of the United States and its allies in Afghanistan, the topic of developing such weapons was again raised. There were reports in the press that the Americans could spray a virus in the Afghan mountains targeting the DNA of Osama bin Laden. Russian media reported at the same time that genetic biological weapons could indeed be being developed in the world, and in this regard, it was proposed to take measures to prevent the export of biological samples from citizens of our country.
Killer gene: myth or reality?
Synthetic biology is one of the most progressive branches of modern applied science, the products of which have become keenly interested in Western military circles in recent years. According to experts, this particular branch of scientific activity may be the forerunner of the creation of genetic weapons. “The damaging factors of this means of destruction are similar to the action of herbicides, which destroy or suppress the growth of weeds, but do not interfere with the development of cultivated plants,” noted one of the publications of the popular publication “Top Secret.” - Having killer genes in your arsenal, you can actually rule the world, quietly destroying those you don’t like. In this case, it will be almost impossible to find out and prove who exactly created and used the weapon, since its use will be disguised as epidemics of known or unknown diseases with mass death of the population. At the same time, weapons can have a delayed effect, when diseases begin to manifest themselves much later than the moment of their use, that is, they can act like a time bomb.”
A number of sources reported that back in 1969, a representative of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense), speaking before Congress, said that in the near future a synthetic biological agent may appear, against which the natural human immune system will be powerless, and drugs - are ineffective. The Americans at that time experimented with combat strains, trying to make them more resistant to antibiotics. For this purpose, the deadliest variants of the Marburg, Lassa, and Ebola viruses were modified. In essence, we were talking about a new generation of biological weapons. However, in 1975, research in this area was prohibited, and the developers reported that all stocks of such funds had been destroyed.
“At the same time, information has repeatedly appeared that these studies continued, only secretly,” says journalist Alexey Kruglov. - According to experts, they are currently being conducted under the guise of medical research. This is confirmed by numerous information leaks. Thus, in 1998, US scientists announced a unique discovery: a fragment of RNA was artificially grown, which, when entering the human body, is capable of destroying certain combinations of genes. The killer molecule finds the required DNA, inserts itself into the gene chain and blocks specified areas. If it is possible to block disease-causing genes, then the same can be done with vital human cells. For example, today researchers know exactly the combination of genes responsible for the production of sex hormones, which actually makes it possible to artificially suppress or stimulate reproduction at the gene level.”
Experiments on Russians
The doubts expressed by experts about the purely scientific purposes of the current campaign to collect biomaterials from Russians are based on a very important point. It turns out that the source data of the ongoing research... is not available to the Russian side! The above-mentioned head of Genotek, Valery Ilyinsky, is perplexed in this regard: “We cannot obtain information obtained during the study of ourselves. This situation is extremely offensive for us. In Europe, such data is published in the public domain and is available for downloading from the Internet. It’s hard to guess what is causing the reluctance to share information now.”
But security experts have little doubt: we may be talking about the military purpose of the events being carried out. Thus, a member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy of the Russian Federation, retired FSB Major General Alexander Mikhailov, believes that the prospect of using the collected biomaterial and studying the characteristics of human cells is in the sphere of experiments related to the military point of view. Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Franz Klintsevich spoke even more harshly about the situation. In his opinion, the collection of biological materials of Russian citizens by foreign agents may be part of a biological war scenario against Russia. “Such a scenario is undoubtedly being developed, the only question is whether this is being done “just in case” or preparations are being made for the start of this war,” the senator believes. - Hence the collection of biological material from Russians living in different geographical locations. In the West, everything is done extremely scrupulously and verified down to the smallest detail: if biological weapons are to be used, then for sure.”
The fact that work on creating genetic weapons is actually underway is not ruled out by Igor Korotchenko, Deputy Chairman of the Public Council under the Russian Ministry of Defense, Editor-in-Chief of the National Defense magazine. “This is a very ethical question, but nothing can be ruled out,” he notes. “It is impossible to predict what processes will occur on earth even in 100 years, what biological and technical breakthroughs are possible.” At the same time, Igor Korotchenko emphasizes: in Russia, no developments related to such weapons are being carried out: all the means available in our country’s arsenal are exclusively defensive in nature.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation calls for increased transparency of biological activities related to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction. Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov, speaking at the recent international conference “Global threats to biological security. Problems and solutions,” noted that a special risk factor is military medical and biological activity carried out outside the national territory. The Russian Foreign Ministry draws attention to a significant expansion in the scope of such activities, which makes us think about its true direction and content. “We speak about this first-hand, since we are increasingly noticing such manifestations in countries located near us,” emphasized Sergei Ryabkov. “Last year, Russia presented a detailed proposal on this topic to improve confidence-building measures: we believe that such increased transparency will help improve mutual understanding and contribute to the implementation of the goals of the convention.”
By the way, the Russian Foreign Ministry considers the explanations of Pentagon representatives regarding the current campaign to collect biomaterial from Russians to be far-fetched and dubious. The same Sergei Ryabkov. “This could have far-reaching consequences. We talk about this openly both to the Americans and to our neighbors, where a whole network of laboratories has been created with the assistance and participation of the United States,” said the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Who collects biomaterials of Russians, why Vladimir Putin’s statements are dangerous for geneticists and why social network users are in vain laughing at the president’s excitement, read the material on the site.
Images, samples, “pichalka”
On October 30, a meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society on Human Rights was held, at which the country's President Vladimir Putin said that someone was collecting biological material from Russians. This is how the president responded to the words of the chairman of the board of the All-Russian public organization “Russian Public Institute of Electoral Law”, Igor Borisov, that images of Russian citizens are being collected with the help of a video surveillance system in Russia for unknown purposes.
“Regarding the fact that images of our citizens and voters are collected by someone and somehow used... Images are okay, but you know that biological material is collected throughout the country, and from different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical locations Russian Federation? Here’s the question: why are they doing this?” the President addressed the Council members.
“They do it purposefully and professionally. We are such an object of great interest. Therefore, in the first part of what I said, all this is interconnected. We need, of course, to approach this without any fear. Let them do what they want, and we must do what we must, and taking into account your comments we will organize this work,” Putin worried. According to Dmitry Peskov, the president receives this information from the special services.
The president's words caused the expected excitement among social media users. Thus, Doctor of Biological Sciences, popularizer of science Mikhail Gelfand, in the usual emotional manner, criticized the president’s statement. “First of all, this is crap. Secondly, she jumped out in response to something completely wrong (you are talking about elections - we are talking about genetic weapons - i.e. it sits in the subcortex). Thirdly, he didn’t come up with this himself, some bastard sang it (I think I know who this bastard is). As well as about the Sochi genetic soldiers. In general, this is already a clinic. Pichalka,” – wrote he's on his Facebook.
Geneticists, however, do collect biomaterials. “As far as I know, there are two centers in our country, one in Moscow and the other in St. Petersburg, that collect biomaterials from various peoples of Russia and send them to their colleagues in the USA. The main goal of these studies, judging by the publications that have appeared in recent years, is to study the genetic diversity of different ethnic groups in Russia, to search for differences between them, including what diseases affect them, and to describe these differences,” - said the director of Genotek, geneticist Valery Ilyinsky. The site already wrote about one of these studies by the company in the article “In search of “indigenous” Russians: how not to talk about genetic research.”
Senior Researcher at the Institute for Information Transmission Problems named after A.A. Kharkevich RAS Alexander Panchin recalled the US Air Force tender for the purchase of 12 samples of RNA molecules and synovial tissue from Russians (it was published on the US government procurement portal - website note). According to the terms of the tender, donors must be citizens of Russia, Caucasians, without injuries to the musculoskeletal system, with negative tests for HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and syphilis. Russian media then actively discussed the announced tender and suggested that the United States was developing genetic weapons, and Russia Today experts even said that the Americans could be preparing to create military viruses.
Viruses at the ready!
Creating genetic weapons or “combat viruses” is technically quite difficult: most of the genomes of different people are similar, and human populations can be very diverse and constantly mix with each other. As a result, the concept of a “pure nation” simply does not exist now. While it is theoretically possible to create biological weapons against some small group of people who have lived in genetic isolation for thousands of years, it is impossible to create viruses that kill “only Russians, but not Chukchis,” “only Americans, but not Canadians.” In addition, a lot of time and money would have to be spent on this, so the end clearly would not justify the means.
“Firstly, not enough biomaterial is collected; we still don’t really know our population frequencies according to the ExAC type (Exome Aggregation Consortium, a scientific project that collects and combines data on read regions of the genome, on the basis of which protein is synthesized, making this data available to the scientific community - website note), secondly, collecting biomaterial is not at all difficult, because everyone travels abroad and takes saliva and hair with them, thirdly, genetic weapons are from the realm of unscientific fiction,” comments Andrey Afanasyev, founder and CEO of iBinom and yRisk companies .
“It is impossible to make a genetic weapon, although after the restriction on the export of biomaterials in 2008, a lot of stories appeared around,” notes Svetlana Borinskaya, chief researcher. laboratory of genome analysis IOG named after N.I. Vavilova. According to her, it is, of course, possible to identify genetic differences between nations: “The Chinese genetically cannot tolerate milk, and if the Chinese army is given milk to drink, it will not be able to get up from the potty for half a day. It would seem, why not a weapon? But this is impossible to use. The fact is that numerous peoples do not have such genetic characteristics that would distinguish only one ethnic group and are absent in others. If among the Chinese there are approximately 98% of people with lactose intolerance, among the Russians there will be 35-40%, and even if we make a weapon that will kill on this basis, then it will kill not only the enemy, but also a third of our own and part of everyone around us.” . According to the expert, only close relatives are very noticeably similar genetically, but these are too small groups of people, and making weapons against them is pointless.
Svetlana Borinskaya suggested that the president was talking about the collection of biomaterials by scientists, but it is difficult to understand which ones exactly. “If we are talking about genetics, then such studies are carried out in all developed countries,” she commented. - Scientific groups often involve scientists from different countries, they combine their results, make their genomes available to the public, and there is no danger in this. Perhaps we are talking about the case with synovial tissue. To put it simply, these are joint tissues. Of course, it does not indicate why they were needed, but perhaps foreign scientists requested them from Russia because here it is possible to quickly obtain permission from the ethical commission, because medical research always requires such approval, checking whether harm is caused to the project participants. One can only guess what kind of material collection we are talking about. If we do talk about this case, it’s surprising how well-informed senior management is that they already know about such a small tender.”
Conspiracy craze
The president’s statement may have negative consequences for the work of geneticists in Russia, believes Senior Researcher at the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Philology Alexey Kasyan. The expert added that biomaterials are already collected throughout the country. “Biological samples are actually being collected all over the country, and this is important for science. Geneticists collect, travel through regions and districts, stick a stick in the cheek (saliva, epithelium) or take blood. There are practical goals: knowing the geographical distribution of the gene pool, you can, for example, indicate the probable place of origin of a dead terrorist based on his DNA. Potentially, there are ways out into medicine (slightly different medications may be more useful for different populations). There are purely scientific goals: the reconstruction of ancient migrations and prehistory, but taxpayers are also willing to pay for this,” he wrote. In his opinion, Putin’s words could harm geneticists, since regional leaders may refuse support when organizing research expeditions and even resist the arrival of geneticists.
It is important to note that biomaterial, by definition, which is contained in official regulatory documents (for example, in the “Rules for the import into the territory of the Russian Federation and export outside the territory of the Russian Federation of biological materials ...”), are “samples of biological fluids, tissues, secretions and products human activity, physiological and pathological secretions, smears, scrapings, washings, microorganisms, biopsy material.” As we can see, the painfully familiar tests that we take at every medical examination at the local clinic fit perfectly into this list. “You can do whatever you want with them, so there is no such thing as just a biomaterial, it is for something. Biomaterial for the production of immunobiological drugs, for example,” explains Alexey Vodovozov.
There are also many versions as to why the president needed to say such a sacramental phrase. Some believe that someone wants to attract more attention and funding: either certain authorities to the military-industrial complex, or certain scientists to their research. Others think the president was simply trying to avoid a political dispute with Igor Borisov, chairman of the Council of the Russian Public Institute of Electoral Law. “If you carefully watch the full broadcast of the said discussion on YouTube, you will see that the story begins with the fact that a certain Mr. Igor Borisov meaningfully informed the president that a million views of open cameras at polling stations came from foreign IP addresses. From which he (Igor) concludes that it’s not without reason, oh, it’s not without reason that foreign neural networks are studying our Russian faces - we know from Edik Snowden, it’s not without reason! With the next phrase, Mr. Borisov is preparing to propose banning cameras at polling stations. The President needed to stop this farce, and abruptly and without going into an actual discussion,”
The collection of biological material from the population of the Russian Federation is required to study the genetic diversity of ethnic groups; these studies are being carried out in the USA, geneticist Valery Ilyinsky, director of Genotek, told RIA Novosti.
On Monday, at a meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that in Russia it is not clear for what purpose they collect biomaterial from representatives of various ethnic groups. On Tuesday, press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov said that such information is collected by some emissaries, representatives of non-governmental organizations and other bodies, these facts were recorded by the special services.
“As far as I know, there are two centers in our country, one in Moscow and the other in St. Petersburg, that collect biomaterials from various peoples of Russia and send them to their collaborators in the USA. The main goal of these studies, judging by those publications, is that have emerged in recent years is to study the genetic diversity of different ethnic groups in Russia, to look for differences between them, including what diseases affect them, and to describe these differences,” Ilyinsky said.
According to him, last year a large publication was published on this topic, co-authored by two well-known Russian geneticists who participated in the collection of these biomaterials. The article revealed the differences between 100 different ethnic groups living in Russia and abroad.
“All experiments, of course, were carried out in the United States. Unfortunately, such work is not carried out today, although in theory we have all the necessary equipment and specialists to carry it out. Unfortunately, I do not know all the financial details these studies - it is possible that the transportation of samples to the USA is due to the fact that we do not provide grants for such analyzes, but they do provide them there,” the geneticist noted.
He said that for unknown reasons, initial research data on the diversity of ethnic groups is not available to Russian scientists. “This situation is extremely offensive for us - we cannot receive information obtained during the study of ourselves. And therefore it would be much more useful if such research was carried out in Russia, especially since nothing prevents them from being carried out in the same volumes ", which are typical for American projects... In Europe, such data is published in the public domain almost immediately after the research is carried out, and in our country they are also usually available for downloading from the Internet. In general, it is difficult to guess what is the reason for this reluctance to share information" , - summed up Ilyinsky.
On Monday, October 30, at a meeting of the Human Rights Council, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that biological material from Russians, including foreigners, is being collected throughout the country. “And for different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical locations of the Russian Federation. The question is: why is this being done?” - Putin emphasized. The President also noted that such activities are being carried out “purposefully and professionally,” but we must approach this without fear. “Let them do what they want, and we must do what we must,” Putin concluded. Apparently, we are talking about a tender from one of the US Air Force units, which refers to the need to supply biological materials obtained from residents of Russia. However, if this is him, then the president, as scientists have already explained, is interpreting him incorrectly.
Nevertheless, Putin’s statement is widely discussed on the Internet. The Mediazona publication reminds us that fear of biological research is a long-standing pastime of the Russian authorities. Novaya turned to Mikhail Gelfand, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor at the Higher School of Economics, Moscow State University and Skoltech, for comment.
— Putin spoke about biomaterial collected by foreigners in Russia. But biomaterials are collected constantly. Why do scientists need this?
— If we are talking about DNA samples being collected from representatives of different ethnic groups, then most likely we are talking about some kind of population research - this is work to study our history. The genomes of different ethnic groups are collected, archaeological material is collected - after which an attempt is made to reconstruct the history of mankind and its settlement on the planet. There are several international projects in this direction, Russia also participates in them - and this is very good. This allows us to maintain a certain scientific level in the country.
The other side of the issue: we remembered the American tender for collecting samples - no longer DNA, but RNA. Most likely, in this case we are talking about some kind of medical genetics, about the study of predispositions to joint diseases. There, however, we are not talking about any ethnic groups, we are talking only about Russian samples. There was also no talk of collecting these samples specifically on Russian territory - there are plenty of Russians in the States.
What these studies seem to be saying is that different ethnic groups may have different frequencies of [genome] variants. There is no variant that only Russians have, but the frequencies of specific variants may differ, and the predisposition to certain diseases may differ statistically. Based on the tender, it is difficult to reconstruct the entire task, but apparently this is a medical genetic study, since for it it is also essential to collect biological samples from representatives of different ethnic groups in order to exclude the historical component: so that the correlations that we observe are associated specifically with medicine , and not with a general history.
— Why is this tender being held by the Ministry of Defense, and not the Ministry of Health, for example?
“Everything goes through the Ministry of Defense, because this is the departmental affiliation of the hospital where the research is taking place. The tender is announced by a specific institution, and since we are talking about an Air Force hospital, an announcement about it is also posted on the website of the Ministry of Defense. And, if we are to engage in conspiracy theories, this is precisely a sign of the openness of the whole situation. If the Americans needed to quietly collect samples of genetic material from representatives of the Russian ethnic group or any other, then it would not be very difficult to do [without any tender].
— Why did Putin construct the phrase this way? Was he told that, or does he really think so? Where did the communication failure occur?
- Is there a difference? Something tells me that Vladimir Vladimirovich is not a specialist in the field of biology. Of course, I would like the leader of the country to have more competence, especially in biology, which is now the number one science, but on the other hand, it is impossible to be a specialist in all fields.
In this situation, what he thinks is what he was told. These are synonyms. Putin has no other source to analyze what was said.
I don’t think the president reads Alexander Markov’s books about evolution in his spare time. They told him complete nonsense - and not harmless. The Russian participants in the international scientific consortia that we were talking about probably shuddered greatly after this phrase.
We love that scientists come to us, that Russian scientists return and do research. But who will decide to do this if suddenly something like this can suddenly jump out at you? And the worst thing is that this is not an isolated “communication failure”, but a completely systemic line. In Sochi two weeks ago it was also announced that with the help of genetic engineering it is possible to create super-soldiers who will not be afraid of pain. This is also in the spirit of this “genetic line”. And if you again engage in conspiracy theories, you can remember the law banning genetically modified organisms, which someone also lobbied for. All this is biological obscurantism.
The collection of biological materials of Russians by foreigners, declared by Dmitry Peskov and confirmed by the special services, can theoretically be used for harm, but why this should be done is not clear. About it FBA "Economy Today" said an employee of the Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, director of Genotek Valery Ilyinsky.
“Judging by the scientific information that is periodically published in the West, the genetic characteristics of different ethnic groups living in Russia are being studied. Scientists are finding out which DNA mutations certain populations differ from each other. The latest publications on Russian ethnic groups were last year.
First of all, research provides information about where each ethnic group came from and how it moved throughout the country. In addition, based on this data, it is possible to make medical analytics that will show which diseases are most common in each ethnic group. This is if we talk about the scientific component. It’s possible that other information can be extracted from the biomaterial, but I’m not ready to say what,” the specialist notes.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the collection of biomaterials of Russians was recorded by Russian special services. "Indeed, some emissaries carry out such activities, representatives of NGOs - non-profit organizations." The day before, President Vladimir Putin announced such facts. According to the head of state, the collection is carried out “for different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical locations of the Russian Federation.”
“Purely hypothetically, from a complex of biodata, through analysis and research, it is possible to obtain information that will subsequently become a source of harm to the inhabitants of Russia. But personally, I do not understand what harm medical analytics can cause. Moreover, as far as I know, the latter countries are not involved in biological weapons 30 years old,” emphasizes Valery Ilyinsky.
Self Defense Law
It became known that in December the government intends to submit a bill to the State Duma that will ensure the biological safety of Russians. This is done primarily to control foreign laboratories conducting research on biomaterials in the Russian Federation and having the opportunity to export samples. The law will stop the export of such materials.
“Ancient ideas that, having obtained a person’s hair or nails, you can cast a spell on them and the person will get sick or die - all these are fantasies,” says Doctor of Sciences, a specialist in human genetics Svetlana Borinskaya. – I think the roots of the idea that by collecting biomaterials you can harm people come from there. It is impossible in principle to develop genetic or ethnic weapons - this is how nature works. And why do this in principle, if traditional weapons kill very effectively.
There are modern studies of the characteristics of the population of different countries and regions, aimed at developing new diagnostic, treatment and prevention tools. Such projects collect biological materials from people who have consented to participate in research. There are projects that use genes to reconstruct the history of human settlement on Earth, to reconstruct the history of peoples. They always cause great interest.
What harm can it do to know that people came from Africa or that the population of Europe has three genetic sources? This is information about how people settled. They can only be interpreted as harmful; in themselves they are harmless.
Biological materials as an object of research can be of significant commercial interest, for example, for pharmaceuticals. Another example: the craze for antibiotics has led to the fact that the intestinal microflora of many people is altered. This may affect your health. Experiments on animals yielded important results: when obese mice were transplanted with the microflora of a slender mouse, it lost weight. Nowadays, much attention is paid to finding protected areas where the population did not actively use antibiotics and retained some beneficial intestinal bacteria. There are large projects to create special "kaka-banks" with a large collection of samples. This is where a legislative initiative to preserve individual biomaterials could be useful."
