Monthly Archives: March 2017

Giracoin The new cryptocurrency from Switzerland.

Posted: March 31, 2017 at 6:42 am

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In our FAQ section, you will find a good deal of useful information on the Giracoin at a glance. In case your question remains unanswered, you can always feel free to contact [emailprotected] or go on our live-chat.

Cryptocurrencies are virtual financial goods or digital cash and is based, as the name suggests, on the principles of cryptography. The general objective of cryptocurrencies is to realize an alternative, decentralized and secure payment system.

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Ledger grabs $7 million for its cryptocurrency hardware wallets … – TechCrunch

Posted: at 6:41 am

Things are going incredibly well for Ledger these days. People find bitcoins, ethers and other cryptocurrencies exciting again. And the French startup just raised a $7 million Series A round to make hardware security devices ubiquitous.

MAIF Avenir, XAnge, Wicklow Capital, GDTRE, Libertus Capital, Digital Currency Group, The Whittemore Collection, Kima Ventures, BHB Network and Nicolas Pinto participated in todays funding round.

If youve been following cryptocurrencies for a while, you know that you shouldnt trust bitcoin and ethereum startups that centralize everything. There have been many hacks, there will be more hacks. And you dont want to trust some startups security team when you can do it yourself.

Sure, you can run your own bitcoin wallet on your computer. But hackers could still access your computer and your bitcoin wallet, so its still a point of failure.

Ledger makes hardware wallets for multiple currencies. These tiny devices have a secure element. You might not even realize it, but your smartphone also has a secure element to handle fingerprint readers or NFC payments, such as Apple Pay or Android Pay.

Ledger runs some tasks directly on the secure element, making it much more secure than running an app on your phone or your computer exclusively. This way, you can easily protect your bitcoins without a lot of security knowledge. Nobody can access the private keys on the device. And the device constantly checks the integrity of the firmware.

The company also makes sure that nobody can compromise the device during the manufacturing process. When we manufacture the devices, all chips receive a Ledger certificate, co-founder and CEO Eric Larchevque told me. When the device boots up, the computer sends a security challenge and the device answers.

The Ledger Nano S is the companys most popular device. Its the size of a USB key and has a tiny display. After initiating a transaction from your computer, youll have to confirm the transaction on the device itself and enter your PIN code. This way, even if your computer has been compromised, the transaction order wont go through on the device and you wont be able to confirm the transaction.

The company also makes a high-end device with a built-in touch screen called the Ledger Blue. The Ledger Nano S costs around 70 while the Blue costs 275.

Ledger has sold more than 50,000 wallets so far, and the last few months have beat the companys expectations by a wide margin. But cryptocurrency wallets are just the first step.

By running a secure operating system on a secure element, there are other potential applications. For instance, Ledger could sell chips so that companies working in sensitive industries can make sure their servers werent compromised. You can imagine hedge funds and financial institutions using Ledger products. Energy suppliers could also use Ledgers technology to make sure that the consumption level is legit. Thats why the company is raising money to go beyond hardware wallets and find those industrial clients.

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The rise of cryptocurrency (and what the heck it even is) – The American Genius

Posted: at 6:41 am

Coins unlike the ones you find in your couch

Whats an Initial Coin Offering?

While it sounds like the beginning of an intrepid relationship with a metal-loving deity, turns out ICOs have nothing to do with actual coins.

ICOs, aka token sales, are part of blockchain technology fundraising. An ICO is essentially a crowdfunded cryptocurrency.

Tokens for new cryptocurrency are sold as a fundraising effort for technical development.

Whenever a new cryptocurrency is born, its startup parents arbitrarily decide its worth.

After supply and demand smack it around for a bit, participants in the price dynamic testing then settle on a value.

Instead of a central government, the network of participants determines how much the cryptocurrency is worth.

Unlike Initial Public Offerings, acquiring a token does not mean owning stakes in the company.

Although venture capitalists have been giving ICO the cold shoulder, things are starting to look up.

Cryptocurrency investors made bank last year, with some doubling their investments.

Investors see returns more quickly with ICOs due to the liquidity of cryptocurrencies.

Instead of waiting for a startup to playout via an IPO or acquisition, investors can bail if things arent going well.

Its easy to pull fundsor profits, if things did work out. All investors have to do is use a cryptocurrency exchange to pull their profits, then use an online service to convert this to real people money.

If this sounds sketchy, youre not alone. Traditional investors arent really fans of the regulatory uncertainty.

The world of ICO can be full of scams and schemes, with little control over financials and strategy.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and friends are still investigating ICOs. But technically ICOs fall outside legal frameworks.

ICOs dont offer equity in startups, and only give cryptocurrency discounts before they release them to the exchanges.

Additionally, ICOs are global, not national. Theoretically, anyone can invest on a semi-anonymous level. Oh, and theyre not funded by central authorities or banks either.

Criminal activity is now mostly self-regulated within the community via crowdsourcing and external groups.

Some companies are even working to establish Know Your Customer frameworks and make ICOs Anti-Money Laundering compliant.

Those who support ICOs argue traditional methods of investing only benefit those already dominating the system.

Investing outside of the system provides more freedom, especially for startups.

ICOs mean startups can raise funds without worrying too much about looming stakeholders. Non-profits can also benefit if they want to build open source software to raise capital.

From their humble beginnings, bitcoins are now worth around $1,120. Bitcoins market cap is around twenty billion.

Allegedly, half of that is owned by bitcoin whales, a group of less than one thousand people who bought into bitcoin early.

Bitcoin whales have a huge impact on most ICOs. Most live in China, but some investment and hedge funds also have huge stakes in bitcoin. Fortunately, some of the bitcoin whales profits are reinvested in innovation.

Overall, ICOs are dominating in crowdfunding, with most top raises coming in as cryptocurrency.

Though its still kind of murky and mysterious, blockchain technology is starting to be seen as more legitimate. Initial Coin Offerings demonstrate the success of industry. As more investors become comfortable with ICOs, blockchain innovation will continue creating new possibilities.

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Bitcoin Price Technical Analysis for 03/31/2017 Bullish Pressure Kicking In – newsBTC

Posted: at 6:40 am

Bitcoin price is making an upside breakout from a trend channel and a bullish flag pattern, signaling that buyers are getting back in the game.

Bitcoin Price Key Highlights

Bitcoin price is making an upside breakout from a trend channel and a bullish flag pattern, signaling that buyers are getting back in the game.

Technical Indicators Signals

The 100 SMA just crossed above the longer-term 200 SMA so the path of least resistance is to the upside. In addition, the 100 SMA dynamic support lines up with the short-term triangle bottom, adding to its strength as a floor. A pullback could still find support at this level, which also coincides with the broken channel resistance.

Stochastic is on the move up so bitcoin price could follow suit. RSI is also turning higher after spending some time moving sideways, also indicating that buyers are regaining the upper hand. This could be enough to take bitcoin price at least to the triangle highs at $1060 and beyond.

However, if this proves to be a fakeout and traders quickly book profits at the end of this week and quarter, bitcoin price could fall back inside the longer-term channel and resume its selloff back to support at $850 or halfway there until $950.

Market Events

Profit-taking is expected by the end of this week as it also closes out the first quarter of 2017. As such, most investors are likely to book their winnings and close out their positions to crunch the numbers.

Although the dollar gained across the board versus its forex counterparts yesterday, it seems that risk appetite surged along with it so bitcoin price took advantage. The cryptocurrency is also drawing some support from uncertainties surrounding US fiscal policy and the upcoming Brexit negotiations. Reports that several exchanges are rejecting Bitcoin Unlimited, which is the newer version of the software, is renewing confidence that existing bitcoin will not lose its value.

Charts from SimpleFX

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The technology behind bitcoin can be a force for good, say startups that are chasing it – San Francisco Business Times

Posted: at 6:40 am

The technology behind bitcoin can be a force for good, say startups that are chasing it
San Francisco Business Times
... Bart Stephens, left, and Brad more. Todd Johnson | San Francisco Business Times. While some financial institutions have been reluctant to engage with bitcoin, the technology enabling the currency, blockchain, has garnered a great deal of interest.

and more »

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Bitcoin Ransomware Education CrptXXX – The Merkle

Posted: at 6:40 am

Bitcoin ransomware families are plentiful, which is what makes them incredibly dangerous. In some cases, different types of ransomware will have a similar name, which causes some confusion. CrptXXX is a type of malware that should not be confused with CryptXXX, even though both types of malicious software work towards a similar goal. CrptXXX is quite a powerful type of malware, although it can be removed with relative ease.

Most people are well aware of how ransomware works. This malicious software encrypts all files on the computer, gives them a random file extension, and forces users to pay a ransom in bitcoin to restore file access. However, certain types of malware have proven to be quite more potent than others, as its developers bring additional features to the table. After all, why only encrypt data when there is much more havoc to wreak?

In the case of CrptXXX, the ransomware does a few different things. Granted, in adds the.crptxxx extension to all encrypted files. Moreover, once this payload is active on a computer, it can modify all accessible files with relative ease. This allows users to retain some level of control over the machine so they can pay the ransom. Neither of these features is out of the ordinary, as those are the basic functions of any malware strain in existence.

What CrptXXX does differently is how it also allows the ransomware developer to gain remote control over the computer as long as the files remain encrypted. This gives criminals backdoor access to the device in question, which allows them to copy any file from the computer and make it their own. Through a dedicated Trojan component, CrptXXX victims can be spied upon at any given time, which is quite a troubling thought.

Speaking of which, information harvesting is what makes CrptXXX even more dangerous compared to most other types of malware. Downloading key settings, recording account credentials, and even stealing personal files is just a few of the possibilities. However, the bread and butter remains infected files and demanding a bitcoin ransom to have file access restored. With a variable ransom demand, CrptXXX developers are always looking for their next big score.

Distribution of CrptXXX is what one would expect from similar campaigns these days. Email spam, pirated content downloads, and infected software installers are the three most common distribution methods for CrptXXX. Additionally, it is possible to infect victims with this payload through direct attacks in the form of exploit kits or vulnerability testing frameworks. So far, CrptXXX is believed to have caused quite a bit of damage, although a solution has been provided to remove the malware completely without paying the bitcoin ransom.

Unlike most other types of ransomware, CrptXXX does not appear to delete the shadow volume copies. This allows users to restore files from a previous data backup. That is quite a relief to most people who had to deal with this ransomware in the past, as there is nothing more disturbing than losing valuable files due to a malware attack. Always back up important computer files on a regular basis, as one never knows when that backup may come in handy.

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Spacewalking astronauts lose a piece of shield needed for International Space Station – Los Angeles Times

Posted: at 6:39 am

Spacewalking astronauts lost an important piece of cloth shielding needed for the International Space Station on Thursday when it floated away.

Astronaut Peggy Whitson immediately reported the mishap to Mission Control, which tracked the bundle as it drifted off. NASA said it would be monitored to make sure it doesn't come back and hit the station.

The shielding protects against micrometeorite debris. It was one of four pieces that Whitson and Shane Kimbrough were installing over the spot left by a relocated docking port. NASA spokesman Dan Huot said the three remaining shields were installed to cover the most vulnerable spots.

It was a disappointing turn of events in a record-setting spacewalk for Whitson, the world's oldest and most experienced spacewoman. It was the eighth spacewalk of her career, the most performed by a woman. There was frustration in her voice as she informed Mission Control.

Huot said it was not immediately clear who let the shield go or how it got away; it's supposed to be tethered to the station or spacewalker at all times.

Spacewalkers have lost objects before, but usually the items are small, like bolts. In 2008, an astronaut lost her entire tool kit during a spacewalk.

Each fabric shield weighs 18 pounds. When unfolded, it is about 2 inches thick and measures about 5 feet by 2 feet, according to NASA. The entire 250-mile-high space station is protected, in some fashion, against possible debris strikes.

The docking port was disconnected during a spacewalk last Friday by Kimbrough, the space station's commander and a six-time spacewalker. Then flight controllers in Houston moved it to a new and better location Sunday. It will serve as one of two parking spots for commercial crew capsules under development by SpaceX and Boeing.

The spacewalkers hooked up vital heater cables to the docking port and removed a cover from the top. Then they turned to the shields, and that's when one of the folded coverings got away. Mission Control instructed the astronauts to retrieve the cloth cover just removed from the docking port, and try to fashion it over the gaping hole left by the lost shield.

Midway through Thursday's spacewalk, Whitson was set to surpass the current record for women of 50 hours and 40 minutes of total accumulated spacewalking time, held by former space station resident Sunita Williams. Williams is one of four NASA astronauts who will make the initial test flights of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing Starliner capsules. The first flight could occur as early as next year.

A Russian holds the all-time spacewalking record: Anatoly Solovyev with 16.

The 57-year-old Whitson has been in orbit since November. This is her third space station stint. Altogether, she's spent more than 500 days off the planet, also more than any woman.

She's scheduled to return to Earth in June but may stick around an extra three months, until September. NASA is hoping to take advantage of an extra seat in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that's due to launch next month and return in September. A decision is expected soon.

NASA, meanwhile, has indefinitely delayed a spacewalk that had been scheduled for next week. A shipment with replacement parts needed for that spacewalk is on hold because of rocket concerns at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Shipper Orbital ATK is relying on the United Launch Alliance's Atlas V to haul up the goods.

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Here Is NASA’s Plan for a Space Station That Orbits the Moon – Popular Mechanics

Posted: at 6:39 am

Behind the scenes, NASA and its international partners are putting the finishing touches on humanity's new home in space. This future science station, which will effectively replace the International Space Station when it reaches retirement age in the 2020s, will be a fraction of the size but carry astronauts hundreds of thousands of miles farther into space. In fact, it might travel farther away from our planet than any other human-piloted spacecraft, including the Apollo missions.

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But the most exciting idea behind this new station, destined to make its home orbiting near the moon (aka a cis-lunar orbit), is it will provide a new foothold for future human missions to Earth's closest celestial neighbors, like asteroids, the moon itself, and Mars. Because the station is in an egg-shaped orbit, stretching anywhere from 1,500 km to 70,000 km (930 to 44,000 miles) from the Moon, it would need only a little push to be sent flying to a yet-to-be-chosen destination.

NASA

NASA engineers and their colleagues from four other space agencies have been working on the design of the station for a few years. But without a green light from their political bosses, they had to keep any blueprints a secret. Popular Mechanics spoke with NASA sources and got a small peek at what's coming.

If everything goes as planned, the first mission will launch in 2023 and position a robotic spacecraft called the Power and Propulsion Bus (PPB) in a stretched orbit around the Moon. Then, in the next two years, a pair of barrel-shaped modulesfour-and-a-half meters wide and five meters long, and both weighing under 10 tons eachwill be delivered to the same orbit and bolted to the PPB.

Together, they'll house four astronauts up to 90 days at a time. In addition, a Russian-built airlock module will be added to the station in mid-2020s to make it much easier for the crew to walk outside of its space home.

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On the outside, both modules will be plastered with radiators doubling as micrometeoroid armor, with four docking ports to connect to each other and to receive visiting spacecraft. Fortunately, cis-lunar space is practically pristine compared to all the space junk in Earth orbit, allowing designers to consider thinner walls.

On the inside, everything will be meticulously designed to save mass and maximize room. The dining table will fold after each meal and the sleeping compartments might inflate and deflate as needed. The fridge will have to multitask as a kitchen appliance and scientific sample storage. Huge efforts will be made to recycle and reuse every drop of water, oxygen, and other consumable resources onboard.

The biggest challenge for the engineers designing the cis-lunar station is dealing with trash. Because space is limited and ejecting garbage wastes precious oxygen, engineers will need to compact trash as much as possible. Eventually, accumulated trash will be loaded into the cargo ship after its unloading.

Meanwhile, the means of getting to the space station itself is still up for debate. Each crew shift on the cis-lunar outpost will be accompanied by a dedicated supply ship, but NASA hasn't decided on the mode of transportation or its provider, whether public or private.

International Space Station

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The ultimate goal for this new ambitious project will be a deep-space expedition lasting more than a year, a dress rehearsal of sorts for a future mission to Mars. To make that possible, NASA will need to add a brand-new 20-ton spacecraft with better propulsion and bigger crew quarters in the second half of the 2020s.

In addition, the cis-lunar base might serve as a parking hub for the robotic (and later human) landers returning from the surface of the Moon. Along with NASA's new Orion spacecraft, the Russian next-generation spacecraft that's now in development might drop by for a visit as well. NASA sources also hint that the station will be able to accommodate an extra module, in case a "new partner" decides to come onboard most likely referring to China.

In any case, sometime in the second half of the 2020s the ISS will likely finish its 30-year tenure. A colossal splashdown in the remote part of the ocean will close a chapter in the history of human space flight but free up budgets for new horizons. By then, NASA and its partners hope to have a new outpost in the lunar orbit along with good ideas where to fly it next.

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NASA assigns astronauts to future space station missions – Spaceflight Now

Posted: at 6:39 am

Astronauts Ricky Arnold (left) and Joe Acaba (right) aboard the space shuttle Discovery in March 2009. Credit: NASA

NASA has announced that veteran astronauts Joe Acaba and Ricky Arnold will launch on nearly six-month expeditions aboard the International Space Station starting in September and in March 2018, filling seats aboard Russian Soyuz spaceships recently acquired in a commercial arrangement with Boeing.

Acaba is set to launch first, riding to the space station inside the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in September with Russian commander Alexander Misurkin and NASA flight engineer Mark Vande Hei. That trio will be part of the stations Expedition 53 and 54 crews, returning to Earth next February.

The mission will be Acabas third spaceflight since his selection as a NASA astronaut in 2004. The California native first flew in space aboard the shuttle Discovery on the STS-119 mission in March 2009, then spent four months in orbit on the International Space Station in 2012. Acaba has logged nearly 138 days in space on his two previous flights.

It will be Vande Heis first space mission, and the second for Misurkin.

Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, NASA astronaut Scott Tingle and Japanese flight engineer Norishige Kanai are set to launch on the next Soyuz flight no sooner than late December. Those crew members were already assigned to the mission.

Astronaut Ricky Arnold will join NASAs Drew Feustel and a Russian cosmonaut on a Soyuz launch in March 2018 as part of the stations Expedition 55 and 56 crews. Born in Maryland, Arnold previously flew in space as a crewmate of Acaba on Discoverys STS-119 mission, accumulating nearly 13 days in space.

Feustel, who was already training for his space station expedition, is a veteran of two space shuttle missions the shuttle Atlantis servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in 2009 and the final flight of the shuttle Endeavour in 2011. Next years mission will be the first long-duration spaceflight for Arnold and Feustel.

Acaba and Arnold will fill seats that were planned to be empty. Russia has reduced the size of its crew complement on the space station until a new research lab is launched to the complex next year to cut down on costs, training and staffing requirements.

Using Boeing as an intermediary, the U.S. space agency opted to take advantage of empty Soyuz seats on two flights scheduled for launch from Kazakhstan in September and in March 2018.

Boeing received rights to the Soyuz seats from RSC Energia, prime contractor for Russias human spaceflight program, in a settlement reached last year to end three years of litigation stemming from payments related to the companies former partnership in the Sea Launch program.

NASA said astronaut Shannon Walker, veteran of a five-month stay on the space station in 2010, will train as a dedicated backup for Acaba.

Rookie astronauts Nick Hague and Serena Aun-Chancellor have also been assigned to space station missions, NASA said.

Hague, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and a native of Kansas, will launch in September 2018 on a Soyuz ferry craft with two Russian cosmonauts for about a half-year rotation aboard the outpost. Aun-Chancellor, a flight surgeon from Fort Collins, Colorado, will launch on a Soyuz booster in November 2018 with Canadian flight engineer David Saint-Jacques and a Russian cosmonaut.

Aun-Chancellor is a member of NASAs 2009 astronaut class, and Hague was selected as an astronaut in 2013.

NASA has reserved options to fly three more of its astronauts to the space station on Soyuz spaceships in early 2019 if U.S. commercial crew spacecraft in development by Boeing and SpaceX are not ready in time.

Once the CST-100 Starliner and Crew Dragon commercial spaceships are declared operational, the space agency plans to fly most of its astronauts on U.S. vehicles, while continuing to launch at least one U.S. crew member on each Soyuz mission. Russia plans to have at least one of its cosmonauts on each CST-100 and Crew Dragon capsule in an in-kind arrangement that does not involve any exchange of funds.

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4 human genetics organizations that put ideology ahead of science – Genetic Literacy Project

Posted: at 6:38 am

[Editors note: This is one partofa two-part series examining organizations that place ideology ahead of sciencewhen opposing advances in genetics.The companion piece on NGOs that misrepresent the science about food, farming and biotechnology can be found here.]

The science ofhuman geneticstouches our lives in a wide range of ways. We have expanded our knowledge ofhow the brain works, what race is (and isnt), how we can determine guilt or innocence in crimes,and even why we may behave the way we do. For some,including certain non-government organizations, this is scary stuff. Clearly, the human genetics arena is not as volatile as on the one comprising GMOs and agriculture. But here we look at several of these groups. Some of their concerns may be legitimate (genetic privacy and false results from forensic DNA tests, for example), but there are times when theyleave science behind when expressingconcerns about frighteningbut unlikelyscenarios.

GeneWatch UK is a nonprofit advocacy group,founded in 1998 and based in Buxton, England, that opposes the use of GMOs in agriculture. The group also opposes gene patents as well as the genetic modification and cloning of animals.

GeneWatch supportsgenetic modification only whenthere is no alternative to alleviate human (or animal) suffering. The organization also presumes that genetic engineering will lead tobiological weapons. The group also has raised concernsabout the storing of genetic information in databases and has pushed forregulations prohibitingdiscrimination by employers, insurers, police or others in official positions.

GeneWatch is skeptical that gene therapy or modification could lead to the development of personalized medicine or even treat the majority of diseases. It also believes that genetic testing does a poor job of identifying cures for diseases. According to GeneWatch:

Genes are poor predictors of common complex diseases in most people and targeting a minority of genetically susceptible individuals is usually a poor health strategy. The health impacts of smoking, poor diets, poverty and pollution are not limited to individuals with bad genes and require population-based preventive strategies (such as providing better sports facilities, healthier school meals and banning fast food ads to children).

While genetic testing and the development of precision medicine has had its uncertain starts and failures, many of these initial setbacks have been due to lack of sufficient data on specific genetic markers in disease, and not on a conceptual failure of the role of genetics in disease.

ETC Group (full name: Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration) was renamed in 2001 from the former Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), which traces its roots to the 1930s-era National Share Croppers Fund. RAFI was an advocate for farmers rights, opposing whattermed seed monopoly laws andgenetic modification in agriculture. RAFI changed its name to ETC Group to ensure non-profit status in the United States. The Canadian group is based inWinnipeg, Manitoba.

In the 1990s, itsfocus expanded from agricultureand GMOs to include human genetic issues, such as biopiracy,human genomics and nanotechnology. The group says it wasone of the first organizations to warn of the downside of genetic engineering of crops and livestock and has since kept an eye on developments in human biotech, synthetic biology, biowarfare and industrial biotech.

On synthetic biology, for example, ETC Group has called for stricter regulations, arguing: Synthetic biologists, engaged in a kind of extreme genetic engineering, hope to construct designer organisms that perform specific tasks such as producing biofuels or other high-value compounds. The group has even issued a comic book outlining these concerns, and arguesthat there is a lack of oversight of synthetic biology.

This is an oversimplification. The actual field is nowhere near the stage of creating monsters in the lab; instead, most synthetic biology consists of sequencing and assembling existing genes and oligonucleotide sequences for experimentation. If such genetic engineering efforts do indeed mix or edit existing genomes, regulations do exist to monitor these developments, beyond the Precautionary Principle recommendations under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the 1992 United Nations treaty that covers a variety of biological issues, including thegenetics use restrictions.

The Council for Responsible Genetics, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was founded in 1983. The organization says it reviews scientific data and analyzes where the information can influence policy.

One of the Councils major issues is genetic privacy. It has expressed concerns about a lack of adequate regulation to protect people with a genetic propensity toward disease. To organization worries that consumer genome companies like 23andMe can use individuals genetic sequences without regulatory oversight, and that DNA samples can be obtained, bought, sold and transferred with similar impunity.

These concernshavebeen met with some opposition from scientists, who useDNA sampleswhile researching genetic links todiseases, distribution of traits among and within certain populations, and to gain insights into how genes create and maintain us. However, therehave been mistakes and abuses arising from access to DNA. 23andMe, for example, had to stop selling genetic tests that predicted risks of disease at the request of the FDA, but resumed its consumer testing service with some modifications.

The organization also wantsstricterregulation of human cloning. The organization opposes human cloning and germ cell cloning, but supports cloning for stem cell research. After a 2014 paper was published that advanced the possibilities of human and germline cloning, Gruber told USA Today:

The science is no longer theoretical. We need to start putting laws into place to identify where the line should be drawn in terms of governance of these techniques.

The organization also has published a number of what it calls gene myths, demonstrating its skepticism of the value of genetics research in a number of areas, including population genetics, the genetics of race, the role of genes in mental disorders, published claims assert that genes exist for marital infidelity and for voting behavior, and that genetic tests can accurately predict childrens success in particular sports.

These are rather simplistic claims, since while genes, for example may not predict voting behavior, they can help us understand the evolution of certain behavioral traits (aggression, attraction for authority) that may have a genetic component.

The Center for Genetics and Society, based in Berkeley, California, was originally known as the Exploratory Initiative on the New Human Genetic Technologies before it was reorganized and renamed in 2001.Itwas created with the stated goalof alerting dozens of leaders of scientific, medical, womens health, environmental, human rights, social justice and other constituencies to the need for policies addressing the new human genetic technologies.

The organization supports genetic research that can result in improvements in health. According to CGS, biotech tools and practices have the power to promote or undermine individual well-being and public health, to create private fortunes or advance the public interest, and to foster or threaten a just and fair society.

Itwants a ban on any genetic technology that would fundamentally change the nature of the human speciesin other words, anything involving alteration of the germ line. These technologies include human cloning, particularly reproductive cloning, and mitochondrial DNA replacement therapy.

Other technologies of concern include in vitro fertilization (IVF), due to pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and commercial gestational surrogacy, which the group saysis conducted with little government regulation or oversight. CGS also is concerned about the use of chimeras or hybrid organisms for research, because of the question of legal or moral standing of a human-animal chimera.

Such concerns are moral based on arguments, with possible legal repercussions, but are not necessarily grounded in science.

Andrew Porterfieldis a writer, editor and communications consultant for academic institutions, companies and non-profits in the life sciences. He is based in Camarillo, California. Follow@AMPorterfieldon Twitter.

For more background on the Genetic Literacy Project, read GLP on Wikipedia.

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4 human genetics organizations that put ideology ahead of science - Genetic Literacy Project

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