http://www.technologyreview.com/BioTech/wtr_16485,306,p1.html

no way i'm reading all of that, but some of you might be interested in it.

3/15/2006 11:06:44 PM

i like to study footprints
you've stepped on me before

-ZiP!-

3/23/2006 11:56:44 PM

12 pages...I'll summarize/paraphrase and throw a few quotes in here and there.

-Article is about a guy from Biopreparat, former Soviet bioweapons program.
-Article discusses possibility of other "hostile" nations doing what the Soviets did. Lots of manpower, little technology, and they made it happen.
-Nobody is quite sure what did or didn't happen at Biopreparat. Article mentioned even "theoretical" attacks discussed at Biopreparat may or may not have been developed for actual use.

Quote :

"Popov then described a Soviet strategy for hiding deadly viral genes inside some milder bacterium's genome, so that medical treatment of a victim's initial symptoms from one microbe would trigger a second microbe's growth. "The first symptom could be plague, and a victim's fever would get treated with something as simple as tetracycline. That tetracycline would itself be the factor inducing expression of a second set of genes, which could be a whole virus or a combination of viral genes.""

-Goes on talking about pathogens that can alter a person's perception/behavior through naturally produced drugs in the human body.

Quote :

"But bioterrorists might be willing to infect themselves and walk through crowded airports and train stations: their coughs and sniffles would be the bombs of their terror campaign."

Quote :

"Very often, the Soviet bioweaponeers successfully spliced new genes into pathogens, only to find that infected test animals showed no symptoms. One reason was that the genetically engineered microbes were often "environmentally unstable""

Quote :

""If al-Qaeda wished to carry out a bioweapons attack in the U.S., their simplest means of acquiring access to the materials and the knowledge would be to send individuals to train within programs involved in biodefense research.""

Quote :

"When you look at what the Russians did, those kinds of huge state programs with billions of dollars flowing into very sophisticated research carried on over decades -- they're the problem. If nation-states start a Manhattan Project to build the perfect biological weapon, we're in deep shit"

Quote :

""I don't know what kind of behavior or scientific or political measures would guarantee that the new biology won't hurt us." But the vital first step, Popov said, was for scientists to overcome their reluctance to discuss biological weapons. "Public awareness is very important. I can't say it's a solution to this problem. Frankly, I don't see any solution right now. Yet first we have to be aware." "

Good article, thanks for the link to it.

[Edited on March 24, 2006 at 6:50 AM. Reason : .]

3/24/2006 6:49:23 AM

open-source projects are the solution to bioterrorism too

Quote :

""Popov then described a Soviet strategy for hiding deadly viral genes inside some milder bacterium's genome, so that medical treatment of a victim's initial symptoms from one microbe would trigger a second microbe's growth. "The first symptom could be plague, and a victim's fever would get treated with something as simple as tetracycline. That tetracycline would itself be the factor inducing expression of a second set of genes, which could be a whole virus or a combination of viral genes.""

this is actually a pretty smart technique - it could be applied by computer virus writers too.

yeah i'm steering this away from bioterrorism but it's just not on my mind right now haha

3/24/2006 8:33:01 AM