The Political and Ethical Dilemmas of Weaponizable Biotechnology

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

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