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Hacking The President's DNA By Andrew Hessel

473 Words2 Pages

In Andrew Hessel, Marc Goodman, and Steven Kotler’s article Hacking the President’s DNA, the authors use sensational journalism to inform the reader about the possibility of bioterrorism utilizing personal genetic information to infect specific individuals with mentally debilitating or even deadly viruses. Such a feat could be accomplished by synthesizing a person’s DNA, collected during a handshake, from a pillowcase or even from old clothing, and then commissioning one of the many synthetic biology websites for the creation of a designer virus that would only affect a person with the exact genetic sequence you captured. The main conflict throughout the text lies in concerns on how to protect ourselves and our world leaders from technology that cannot be seen, tasted or smelt but can so efficiently take lives without leaving a trace of evidence. …show more content…

The fictional yet extremely plausible story effectively supports the argument by including well known places, playing on stereotypes, detailing every step taken by the terrorist and maintaining a timeline throughout the story. Such a convincing narrative told in the present tense allows the reader to imagine him or herself in such a situation and thus accept its plausibility.
In an effort to further make the issue of bioterrorism more personal for the reader, the authors utilize the third person throughout the text. By personally involving the reader in the issues of biosciences and rapidly advancing technology as well as directing a difficult question of safety at the reader, we can see that the argument relies heavily on emotions of panic and

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He goes into depth and great detail about this Al-Qaeda affiliate’s story. If readers do not know anything about the process of catching a bombmaker, Mr. Dillow’s writing allows them to be greatly informed. This article appeals to anyone who is interested in Government operations, and Science. This piece of writing is very well written. Proper

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In The book “The Demon In the Freezer” by Richard Preston is a bioterrorism theme, in particular about humanity up against smallpox. Preston expands upon the theme by giving a detailed narrative about the hardship and struggle forced upon the government and its public. In many instances, Preston uses the rhetorical appeal in logos to reinforce this paranoia and fear behind the biological weapon agents smallpox and anthrax to remind us all how destructive and gruesome its effects can be individuals. Preston also describes the hypothetical spread of smallpox and uses reasoning to enforce his purpose in order make us critically think about these alarming outcomes of this theoretical bioterrorism. For instance,“Most experts believe that the multiplier of smallpox in the modern world – a world of shopping malls, urban centers, busy international airports, tourism, cities and nations with highly mobile populations, and above all nearly no immunity to smallpox- would be somewhere between three and twenty.

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The Anthrax Letters: A Medical Detective Story is written by Dr. Leonard A. Cole, this book was published by Joseph Henry Press located in Washington D.C. in 2003 and it includes 280 pages and 10 chapters. Dr. Leonard Cole made this book on the aftermath of 9/11 and the anthrax letters attacks, they include those who were victims of the letters and it intends to show those who took care of them. Among the many, it was the dedicated effort of doctors and agents on protecting the American nation of bioterrorism or biological weapons. The anthrax bacteria also known as bacillus anthacis, is an infectious disease that attacks slowly and in an agonizing way “…shutting down and destroying the body’s functions from top to bottom” (Cole, 2003, p.vii).

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Cesareo Two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon went off on April 13, 2015, resulting in the death of three people and causing injuries ranging in the hundreds. The men responsible for the incident? Two brothers born in the former soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan who had been living in the United States for almost a decade, Dzhokhar, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev (“Boston Marathon Bombings-Facts & Summary”). Dzholaw,19, and Tsarnaev, 26, had acted alone in their act of terror but were believed to be motivated by radical Islamic beliefs (“Boston Marathon Bombings-Facts & Summary”).

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To analyze the ethical components of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) use of a false of vaccination program to obtain information, one can used the four levels of moral discourse outlined in Robert M. Veatch’s The Basics of Bioethics. Looking at the four levels of moral discourse allows us to consider possibilities through which the hoax CIA vaccination program could be considered ethical or unethical. Below I outline a relativist belief that when working through the various levels of moral discourse, one can justify the CIA’s actions as ethical depending on the source of ethics used; using principles of bioethics, we see that the CIA’s actions were unethical, but when considering other principles or virtues, particularly those that

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It is a commonly known fact that “Uncertainty heightens fear.” The fear of the unknown, where or when or how the terrorists would strike next did permanent damage to the heart of america. Each attack was specifically planned to target symbols of American security and pride. In this way, the terrorists figured, they could force American into a mentality of constant fear, crippling their actions and influencing their decisions. Although a shadow of fear lingered over the United States for many years after the attacks, the sturdy american people fought their way back to a feeling of security and peace.

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Violence aids in the prolonged recollection of certain events. However, the accuracy of the representation of those events can and must be called into question. Despite acts of brutality helping to construct collective memory, the use of violence by ‘terrorist’ groups is often an attempt to create a potent form of political communication. By inflicting harm and spreading images of their atrocities, terrorist groups aim to provoke strong emotional reactions and shape the narratives that define a society's collective memory. However, the legacy of these violent acts is ambiguous.

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Background & Context: The War on Terror has plagued the wellbeing of nations across the globe since its start in 2001 (Peters). This ‘war’ has been viewed as: an “ideological struggle” between the US and who the United States believes is involved in terrorist organizations (Peters). Post 9/11, the United States was in culture shock. This was due to the sudden intrusion of fear that blossomed in the hearts and minds of Americans. Terrorism was making itself a real and imposing threat.

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John Horgan’s book “The Psychology of Terrorism” examines what terrorist do and how they go about their motives. Horgan asserts the claim that terrorist use a variety of motives in order to change political objectives through the use of violence (Horgan 2003). Using a plethora of weapons, such as guns, bombs and others weapons of mass destruction Horgan believes that these means are a symbol of revolutionary liberation. The use of the internet and the way terror acts are portrayed in the media, which Horgan calls…” a poor mans tatic”…. in that these internet and media coverage are boasted to the public creating fear and suspicion, which leads to people being on high alert looking for

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