What's New in Life Science Research is managed and written entirely by Seed editors and expert guest bloggers. Read more about them All the previous posts on our current topic are fascinating, and all treat important matters. But I notice that none of them directly address the central questions that were posed, which focus on bioweapons and biodefense.
I've also noticed my own reluctance to take on these issues. And when I checked the website of the Sunshine Project, a public interest organization that has done really solid work on biological weapons issues, I found that it had suspended its operations in February 2008.
I suppose avoidance of the unthinkable isn't surprising, but it may not be the best approach. And with a new administration that seems open to international cooperation, we may now have the chance to deal with the nightmare of biological weapons, whether of the "traditional" or genetically engineered variety.
The Sunshine Project - which took its name from the fact that many biological weapons are quickly broken down and rendered harmless by exposure to bright sunlight - points out that there have been few large-scale uses of bioweapons during wartime. One reason for this is the danger of a "boomerang effect" on the deploying party's military forces or civilian population. It's also technically difficult to develop a bioweapon for large-scale use, and especially to deliver it with the specialized aerosol techniques that are required.
But the Sunshine Project was concerned that developments in biotechnology during the past few decades have increased the threat of biowarfare: "Genetically engineered bioweapons sound like science fiction, but are already a deadly reality: lethal microbes, with no cure, invisible to detection systems, and able to overcome vaccines have been reported in scientific publications." Their overview continues:
In 'defensive' programs, researchers in the USA, UK, Russia and Germany have genetically engineered biological weapons agents, building new deadly strains. And this is probably only the tip of the iceberg.
Genetic engineering can be used to broaden the classical bioweapons arsenal. Through genetic engineering, bacteria can not only be made resistant to antibiotics or vaccines, they can also be made even more toxic, harder to detect, or more stable in the environment. By using genetic methods that are standard procedures in thousands of labs worldwide, bioweapons can be made more virulent, easier to handle, and harder to fight. In short, more effective.
Military experts are perfectly aware of the danger of genetically engineered bioweapons, as their traditional defense measures - e.g. detection methods or vaccines - are easily sidestepped by the artificial microbes. The speedy development of genetic engineering is one driving force to strengthen the Bioweapons Convention and establish a verification system.
The Bioweapons Convention - also known as the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention - opened for signature in 1972 and entered into force in 1975. Its official website describes it as "It was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons." It unambiguously commits the 162 states that have signed it to prohibit the development, production, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons. But it lacks any provisions to verify compliance.
In the early 1990s, when it became apparent that the former Soviet Union, Iraq, and the former apartheid regime in South Africa had offensive biological warfare programs, negotiations began for a legally binding protocol to strengthen the BTWC. The Protocol would set up verification measures including lab inspections and export notifications.
But the Bush administration decided that the proposed protocol was not in the national interests of the United States, and has not supported it. Let's hope the Obama administration thinks otherwise.
