The targeting of indiviuals is not a real possibility. While each of us can be identified, using current methods, by a "unique" combination of SNPs (explained below) it's not possible to use this uniqueness to target us in a genetic way.
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms are single "bits" of DNA at which we each differ from each other (as opposed to the rest of it for which we are totally identical). For example:
Person1: ATGGCCGCTAGCTAGCTAG, vs
Person2: ATGGCCTCTAGCTAGCTAG.
See at the seventh one where there's a G or a T? It takes a great many of these to be certain you have targeted only one indiviual. Even so, you can't kill them biologcally with this information. As someone previosly suggested, retro-viral integration aimed at these sights could specifically target someone by a specific combination of SNPs. Too bad SNPs are not cluserted in a big pack of 50 all next to each other. Over the genome people differ in 1 out of 10^4 bases, while not equally spaced, they're not tightly packed either. Viral DNA (or RNA) is limited in length (has to fit into virus packaging) so it couldn't be long enough to target a single person based on SNPs. I don't think the integration machinery would take that large of an integration site either.
On the other hand, the "White Plague" which targets only women is much more possible (easy too for men-only) because women have none of the genes found on the Y chromosome (don't get too excited guys, the Y is quite gene-poor).
So single-person targeting: no way, race targeting: almost as impossible. Eliminating all of the men: "all too easy".
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Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms are single "bits" of DNA at which we each differ from each other (as opposed to the rest of it for which we are totally identical). For example:
Person1: ATGGCCGCTAGCTAGCTAG, vs
Person2: ATGGCCTCTAGCTAGCTAG.
See at the seventh one where there's a G or a T? It takes a great many of these to be certain you have targeted only one indiviual. Even so, you can't kill them biologcally with this information. As someone previosly suggested, retro-viral integration aimed at these sights could specifically target someone by a specific combination of SNPs. Too bad SNPs are not cluserted in a big pack of 50 all next to each other. Over the genome people differ in 1 out of 10^4 bases, while not equally spaced, they're not tightly packed either. Viral DNA (or RNA) is limited in length (has to fit into virus packaging) so it couldn't be long enough to target a single person based on SNPs. I don't think the integration machinery would take that large of an integration site either.
On the other hand, the "White Plague" which targets only women is much more possible (easy too for men-only) because women have none of the genes found on the Y chromosome (don't get too excited guys, the Y is quite gene-poor).
So single-person targeting: no way, race targeting: almost as impossible. Eliminating all of the men: "all too easy".