Biotechnology is rapidly reshaping warfare, the economy, and human evolution. The US-China rivalry fuels these advances, with China pursuing military-civil fusion and the US striving to maintain dominance. Gene-editing tools like CRISPR pose unprecedented ethical and security risks that range from “super-soldiers” to novel biological weapons. Scientists and policymakers face a “humanness-survival dilemma” that increasingly compels them to weigh human nature against existential threats. Powerful states, private companies, and gaps in global governance make control difficult. A biotechnology accelerates, it challenges morality, security, and the very essence of what it means to be human. How should we confront these challenges?

Dr. Yelena Biberman is an associate professor of political science at Skidmore College and Wilson China Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States. She is also a new voice at the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, and associate at Harvard University’s Davis Center. Yelena received her B.A. in International Relations from Wellesley College,  M.A. in Regional Studies from Harvard University, and MA and PhD in Political Science from Brown University. She worked as a journalist in Moscow, Russia. Her research encompasses three main areas: Technology and unconventional conflict, e.g. biotechnology, proxy. South Asian security, e.g. Kashmir conflict, Afghanistan, great power competition. Ideas and leadership  Website: Yelena Biberman – Associate Professor of Political Science at Skidmore College 
/fusion_text]

Other Posts

Professor Inmaculada de Melo-Martín explores the ethical challenges emerging from advances in reproductive and genetic technologies, and how these developments are reshaping foundational questions about the creation and modification of human life. As a Professor [...]

A new HIV drug, Lenacapavir, represents a major breakthrough in prevention and treatment, with the potential to significantly reduce transmission. Yet for many of the populations most affected by HIV, access remains out of reach [...]

Liver transplant care is beginning to shift, as some patients may be able to reduce or stop anti-rejection drugs long considered necessary for life. While these medications prevent rejection, they carry serious long-term risks, including [...]

Artificial intelligence systems do not verify truth in the way humans do. Instead, they identify and reproduce patterns based on the data they are trained on. When that data includes misleading or unverified information, the [...]

Midwives in Georgia are suing the state over restrictive laws that limit their ability to practice, even as maternal health outcomes worsen. The lawsuit argues these rules reduce access to care by preventing trained providers from [...]

According to a recent report from NBC News, rotavirus, a highly contagious virus causing severe vomiting and dehydration in young children and once largely controlled in the United States, is rising again, with elevated levels [...]