Re: Freedom is Slavery
Yes and no. Gain of function can have duel purposes. In the altruistic version you are playing with viruses you believe could in time infect humans and artificially boosting their capability to do so to "see what happens" thereby enabling you to grade the potential threat etc etc.
Performing bio-weapons research would involve pretty similar actions albeit I would generally expect that to be performed in a far more secure facility. That said, doing so kind of highlights what you're up to so moving it to a more conventional research facility could mask that.
Either way this has incompetence/complacency written all over it. Infecting you're own population and stifling your economic output isn't a great goal. Beneficial is a double-edged sword. Yes, they have certainly gained in some regards however now everyone views them as outright arseholes who screwed the planet deluxe and that will likely not help them going forward. Especially when you consider it helped to hit home how poor supply chains were with outsourced manufacturing to one country that stopped producing.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
