Biological Warfare
Humanity still faces a significant risk of disaster from pathogens, either deliberately engineered or released by accident. But the Biological Weapons Convention has for the most part been adhered to, and humanity is significantly safer as a result - Kelsey Piper
image by: U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
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The man who stopped America’s biological weapons program
Today, the use of biological weapons is almost unthinkable. But this wasn’t true in the 1960s, when the US government stockpiled such weapons and work continued on developing new, more effective variants. There was an agreement about the use of biological weapons — the post-World War I Geneva Protocol, which also covered chemical weapons — but the United States wasn’t among the signatories to it.
Resources
A natural pandemic has been terrible. A synthetic one would be even worse
In 1988, as Russian scientist Nikolai Ustinov worked in the VECTOR lab, part of a Russian program to develop viral weapons, he accidentally infected himself with the Marburg virus, a deadly pathogen related to Ebola. He died weeks later. During his autopsy, a pathologist accidentally stuck himself with a needle and died as well.
Bioweapons research is banned by an international treaty – but nobody is checking for violations
Scientists are making dramatic progress with techniques for “gene splicing” – modifying the genetic makeup of organisms. This work includes bioengineering pathogens for medical research, techniques that also can be used to create deadly biological weapons. It’s an overlap that’s helped fuel speculation that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was bioengineered at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and that it subsequently “escaped” through a lab accident to produce the COVID-19 pandemic.
Is the Coronavirus Really a Biological Weapon?
Does the coronavirus truly fall within the federal definition of a “biological agent?” It does, but only because the federal definition is unbelievably broad. Federal law defines a biological agent to include any virus or bacteria that is capable of causing “death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism.” The coronavirus is obviously capable of causing death or disease in humans
The Century of Bioweapons
The coronavirus’s disruptive effects will inevitably inspire evil minds to action.
The havoc wrought by covid-19 will spark new concern over bio-weapons
In theory they are banned, but some countries produce them covertly.
What makes biological weapons so dangerous, and does Russia have them?
The weapons are banned, but the ban is poorly policed.
Why experts are terrified of a human-made pandemic — and what we can do to stop it
As biology gets better, biosecurity gets harder. Here’s what the world can do to prepare.
“Designer bugs”: how the next pandemic might come from a lab
Why we need to take the threat of bioengineered superbugs seriously.
Biological warfare and bioterrorism: a historical review
Biological warfare agents may be more potent than conventional and chemical weapons. During the past century, the progress made in biotechnology and biochemistry has simplified the development and production of such weapons. In addition, genetic engineering holds perhaps the most dangerous potential.
Germ Warfare
RECENT repeated allegations that the United Nations has been using germs of disease as a weapon of warfare against man have brought the subject of biological warfare into prominence. This is one form of warfare which has not yet been thoroughly accepted or tried.We have not employed it and probably never will. It is extremely doubtful if it could be used with any success except in a localized and isolated area, and then with a very minor degree of effectiveness.
I Asked a Biological Weapons Expert How Far Fetched Metal Gear Solid’s Genome Soldiers Really Are
Stanford's Dr Steven Block reveals that Hideo Kojima's PlayStation original was remarkably prescient in its presentation of future troops.
Scientists and the history of biological weapons: A brief historical overview of the development of biological weapons in the twentieth century
When considering the potential threat of biological weapons in the hands of rogue states or terrorist groups, security experts tend to assume that scientists will always lend a hand to prevent such nefarious use of their research. Yet none of the major biological weapons programmes that were established during the twentieth century—in France, Japan, the UK, the USA and the former Soviet Union—would have been possible without the active leadership and cooperation of biological and medical scientists.
The history of biological warfare
During the past century, more than 500 million people died of infectious diseases. Several tens of thousands of these deaths were due to the deliberate release of pathogens or toxins, mostly by the Japanese during their attacks on China during the Second World War. Two international treaties outlawed biological weapons in 1925 and 1972, but they have largely failed to stop countries from conducting offensive weapons research and large-scale production of biological weapons.
The U.S. Spent Billions of Dollars on Biodefense. COVID-19 Was the Attack it Never Saw Coming
The detection devices, part of a multi-faceted $100 billion federal effort to bolster the nation’s biological defenses, were installed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. None of them, however, saw the coronavirus coming.
The man who stopped America’s biological weapons program
The Future of Life Institute will give its annual award to Matthew Meselson, who led the campaign against bioweapons.
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