According to a report by the U.S. publication "Military Express" on October 22, the U.S. Congress is pushing the Department of Defense to conduct biotechnology training at all levels, requiring the establishment of systematic courses within one year after the bill is passed.

The specific content includes the principles of biological science and involves the integration of biotechnology with cross-cutting technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, and advanced manufacturing.

The promoter is Democratic Congressman Hulahan, who said this is to respond to China's rapid rise in the field of biotechnology in recent years, ensuring that the United States does not fall behind in key emerging technologies.

It can be seen that the U.S. is very anxious, as it is increasingly struggling against China in traditional areas, so it wants to change the track.

In traditional manufacturing, high-end chips, and other tracks, the U.S. has shown a trend of continuous retreat, so the U.S. attempts to shift the technological confrontation with China to a field where it still maintains an advantage.

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The reason why biotechnology has attracted the attention of the U.S. military is because it directly affects the structure, form, and rhythm of future wars.

In the traditional sense, biotechnology is used for auxiliary functions such as vaccines, protection, battlefield first aid, and logistics support.

But now, it is entering the threshold of decisive forces.

Firstly, in terms of soldier enhancement, gene editing, cell repair, and neural regulation can make soldiers stronger and more enduring.

Secondly, in the aspect of environmental control, synthetic microorganisms can monitor air quality, water safety, and even produce on-site fuel and food, greatly reducing the logistics burden.

Also, in the field of battlefield perception, micro-biological sensors and biological probes can penetrate enemy positions to collect critical intelligence.

Going deeper, neural cognitive interference can directly affect the enemy's command system's cognitive judgment and emotional stability.

Additionally, targeted gene weapons and programmable pathogens, which are high-risk biotechnologies, may also be misused in the U.S.

These technologies, once linked with AI, big data, and quantum communication, future wars may no longer be missile versus missile, but rather a confrontation between genes and brains.

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This is the concept of fifth-dimensional warfare. Compared to established operational domains such as land, sea, air, space, and cyber, fifth-dimensional warfare expands the operational space to human cognition, thinking, and biological entities.

The goal of this war model is not to destroy the enemy's armed forces, but to silently dismantle them by manipulating information, intervening in consciousness, and rewriting physiological structures.

For example, using AI algorithms to feed specific groups with targeted public opinion over a long period, forming cognitive islands;

Interfering with the decision-making ability of soldiers' commanders through brain-computer interfaces, causing mental blocks.

This kind of war is silent and invisible, and you might not even realize the war has begun at the moment it starts.

Its essence is to integrate biotechnology with information warfare and psychological warfare, forming a full-spectrum intervention.

The reason for shifting to the fifth-dimensional battlefield is actually due to the collective failure of the U.S. in other key technology tracks.

High-end manufacturing has already been overtaken by China, and the leadership in the clean energy industry is also in China's hands.

In 5G, lithium batteries, drones, new materials, and photovoltaic industries, the U.S. has completely lost its leading position.

Although the U.S. has strong models and computing power in the AI field, China's data volume, industrial scale, and implementation speed have more practical prospects.

Faced with this situation of continuous retreat, the U.S. begins to bet on higher threshold, riskier frontier tracks, and biotechnology is one of them.

This is also why Congress inserted a clause for universal biosecurity training, and explicitly pointed out China as the main opponent.

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However, even if the U.S. has certain accumulations in basic research and military conversion in biotechnology, it does not mean that it can continue to lead China.

China has already established a complete industrial chain in multiple sub-fields such as vaccine development, gene testing, biomanufacturing, and agricultural biotechnology engineering.

In terms of the mechanism of military-civilian integration, China has moved faster.

Especially worth noting is that China started earlier in the integration of biotechnology and AI, and the practical application is expected to be faster.

Although there is still a gap compared to the U.S., once the technical threshold is broken through, biotechnology will become the next emerging battlefield where China leads globally, just like 5G and photovoltaics.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7564258083511091753/

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