Hollywood is notorious for ignoring science for the sake of the story. But “Jurassic World,” the latest installment in the “Jurassic Park” franchise, may not be too far off when it comes to man’s desire to weaponize the animal kingdom. In the movie, prehistoric creatures are on display at the dinosaur park much like today’s animals at the local zoo. But behind the scenes, the film’s scientists are furthering the genetic engineering that returned dinosaurs to Earth in the first place, hoping to militarize the creatures.
In real life, scientists are already well on their way toward genetically modifying animals for military use, writes Benjamin Soloway, of Foreign Policy:
"As the limitations of robotics become increasingly apparent, the United States' military – in a high-tech extension of a tradition that stretches from George Washington's cavalry to the dogs, dolphins, and rats of the modern battlefield – has already set off down the road toward genetically engineering animals for war."
In 2006, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) asked scientists "to develop technology to create insect-cyborgs" capable of carrying surveillance equipment or weapons, journalist Emily Anthes wrote in her 2013 book, "Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts." After realizing that it was too challenging to build aircraft that were that tiny and reliable, DARPA turned its attention to insects, which are already abundant and engineered by nature to be better than anything humans could make.
