Using bioweapons is actually nothing new. However, with advances in technology, fewer natural ingredients are needed as more and more can be created – and augmented – synthetically.

“Every year, the Future of Life Institute gives the $50,000 Future of Life award to somebody whose actions at a critical moment in history saved countless lives — and maybe even saved humanity.

“The group today announced this year’s recipient: Matthew Meselson, an American biologist who, in the 1960s and ’70s, spearheaded the fight for an international ban on biological warfare.

“Meselson, now 88, is the Thomas Dudley Cabot professor of the natural sciences at Harvard. In an interview, he recalled how he became involved in the campaign against bioweapons “by accident.””

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