MacKenzie notes that all industrialized countries have laws controlling things that can be used to make weapons as well as for benign purposes. An export control officer must approve the export of such stuff, as well as any instructions for making it. Fear of biological weapons means pathogenic organisms are included. The European Union applies export controls to 102 human, animal and plant pathogens, and also to any genetic sequence that makes them nastier. Crucially, there are no controls on information that is already in the public domain, or on basic research "not primarily directed towards a specific practical aim".
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