WELL, IT COULD BE: Top U.S. Intelligence Official Calls Gene Editing a WMD Threat: Easy to use. Hard to control.
Well, we’re pretty much halfway between when Vernor Vinge wrote Rainbows End and when it was set. Key bit:
Every year, the civilized world grew and the reach of lawlessness and poverty shrank. Many people thought that the world was becoming a safer place . . . Nowadays Grand Terror technology was so cheap that cults and criminal gangs could acquire it. . . . In all innocence, the marvelous creativity of humankind continued to generate unintended consequences. There were a dozen research trends that could ultimately put world-killer weapons in the hands of anyone having a bad hair day.
Also, the civilized world doesn’t seem to be growing, and lawlessness doesn’t seem to be shrinking. Poverty continues to decline, but the politicians may manage to turn that one around too. . . .