BioCoder #1

DIYbio and the “New FBI”

Michael Scroggins

In 1936, sociologist Robert Merton wrote an article titled “The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposeful Social Action.” Merton argued that all purposeful action in the social world creates series of unanticipated consequences that trail the action as a wake trails a ship. Per Merton, this quality gives human action a reflexive character; consequences unforeseen at the initiation of a course of action often affect the very course of that action. Whereas some consequences are serendipitous, others are more ominous.

Which brings us to the 2012 FBI/DIYbio meeting in Walnut Creek, CA. During the three days of meetings, multiple FBI agents addressed the conference attendees and explained that they work for the “new FBI,” not the “old FBI.” At key points, FBI agents rose to their feet and gave the kind of personal testimony to the difference between the old FBI and new FBI that you might expect in an evangelical church. Whereas the old FBI was a policing agency that busted down doors, the new FBI is an intelligence organization that gathers, sorts, and most importantly, classifies information based on forecasted threats. The old FBI wanted to cuff you; the new FBI wants to get to know you.

The line demarcating the old from the new, per the agent’s testimony, was the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks. It was not the actual attacks per se, but rather the activities of the attackers in the months leading up to 9/11 that sparked the change at the ...