I'm a budding mad scientist working in my backyard, with access to about 10,000 dollars' budget, a genius aptitude for genetic engineering, and garden tools. I've got some kind of backstory to avenge, and long story short, I've decided to unleash an army of genetically engineered monsters on the world.
So what can I make? I don't have any future tools, or even the most cutting-edge gene-editing equipment (unless you think I could build it?), but I have no moral reservations about stealing, murdering, etc.
This question might sound a little too open-ended, but what I'm specifically looking for is:
- Something deadly: it can kill humans significantly better than humans can kill humans. So, trainable intelligence, speed, strength, and sharp senses are all plusses.
- Something controllable: it's an assassin, so I'd appreciate answers that aren't 'super smallpox' or 'birdemic.'
- Something possible: based on existing animals, plants, bacteria, protists, etc.
What's the pièce de résistance of my arsenal?
Edit: I appreciate all answers here, but for those trying for a very scientifically accurate answer, bear in mind the square-cube law, and how it relates to just making things bigger. If you create a gorilla the size of a car, it won't pump enough blood to survive. If it's the size of a skyscraper, it will collapse into a pile of meat. Also, we don't have a lot of genetic material to make stuff bigger. Gene-editing is mostly still cut-and-paste at this stage.
Edit again:
Ok, so this has been marked as primarily opinion based and too broad. Here are some clarifications I hope will help narrow it down:
- It should start from species that can be easily obtained by my mad scientist. So housecats, dogs, birds, mice, ants, e-coli are all accessible, but gorilla DNA is a little harder to come by.
- I have to be able to physically gestate this thing: if the fetus isn't viable, it won't be born. Also, if the creation takes 10 years to reach adulthood, I have to wait 10 years. I would prefer not having to do that.
- Making things really small or really big is hard. If you make an ant the size of your hand, but keep the skin the same thickness, it will pop like a bubble. If you make a housecat-sized lion, but forget to shrink 1 bone, that bone will grow through the flesh of the animal.
- Please make answers science-based. It's fun to talk about godzilla, but that's not really feasible. Realistically, small edits are much easier than big ones. As a rule of thumb, look at how much stuff an edit affects. Breathing fire doesn't work if you're not fireproof. Laser eyes need a power source and wiring.