Biological Weapons


Introduction to Biological Weapons

    In the book Genethics: the Clash Between the New Genetics and Human Values, by David Suzuki and Peter Knudtson, biological warfare is defined as "the deliberate use of microorganisms or toxic substance derived from living cells for hostile purposes". Biological warfare is generally regarded as highly unethical and morally repulsive. The United States government considers a biological attack to be on par with the detonation of a nuclear device.

    Many of the diseases most easily adapted to military use are diseases which have ravaged the human population for centuries. Among those considered promising candidates are respiratory anthrax (fatal); pneumonic plague (fatal, respiratory form of bubonic plague); tularemia (formerly standard American lethal biological agent until destruction of U.S. stockpiles, 40% fatal); and smallpox (fatal in unvaccinated individuals).

History of Biological Warfare

    Biological warfare, despite its modern connotation, is actually an ancient, if rarely used, military tactic. Historians claim to have found evidence of biological warfare in the Greek, Roman, and Song Chinese civilizations. In 600 B.C., an Athenian (Greek) government official poisoned the water supply in an enemy city with a primitive toxin. In the 1300's the Tartars, while laying siege to the city of Kaffa (located in the Crimea), tried to infect the city's defenders with the plague by launching bodies of plague victims over the city's walls. In the eighteenth century, British and later American troops infected Native American tribes with smallpox by giving them contaminated blankets. It has also been speculated that Hitler was in possession of biological weapons during World War II.

Military Advantages and Disadvantages of Biological Weapons

    Biological weapons have many features that cause them to be attractive to military strategists. They attack only living organisms without harming infrastructure or physical property. They have a wide variety of applications, from incapacitating guerrilla attacks to fatal epidemics that sweep enemy populations. They are easy to manufacture and are inexpensive compared to nuclear weapons, making them an attractive alternative for low-budget countries. They are highly suitable for covert operations - similar to natural forms, they are impossible to trace to their source.

    Biological weapons also have many disadvantages - they are unpredictable and could accidentally injure the population of the country that launched the attack. They have a highly negative reputation in international circles, and any country that employed them would be condemned by the international community. Genetically modified biological agents could mutate and spread out of control in the global population. Finally, they could negatively affect the environment, infecting wildlife in the target area and upsetting the surrounding ecosystem.

Modification of Biological Agents

    Though the bacteria, viruses, and fungi considered good candidates for military use are virulent enough on their own, it is possible to modify these pathogens, making them even more efficient at killing or incapacitating enemy populations. Recombinant DNA techniques could lead to the development of longer-lived, more virulent germs better able to withstand "weaponized" conditions inside a bomb or floating through the air over enemy territory.

    Another ghastly application of genetic engineering to biological warfare, first proposed in 1970 in the American military journal Military Review,, involves the exploitation of subtle hereditary differences between ethnic populations. A pathogen would be modified so it would be most likely to infect people of a particular ethnic background, leaving those of other ethnicities relatively unharmed. The ultimate in racial discrimination, these tactic has the potential to virtually eliminate certain ethnic groups while leaving others untouched.

Biological Disarmament

    Before 1969, almost every superpower in the world, including the United States and the Soviet Union, had a "defensive" biological weapons program. In 1969, Richard Nixon announced that U.S. biological stockpiles would be destroyed. (Not long after that, the U.S. government instituted a policy that regards a biological attack to be on par with a nuclear detonation.)

    In 1972, the Biological Weapons Convention was held, resulting in an international agreement to refrain from developing "microbial or other biological agents, or toxins, whatever their method of production, of types or in quantities that have no justification for prophylactic, protective, or other peaceful purposes" and to "never . . . develop, produce, stockpile, or otherwise acquire or retain" biological weapons. The treaty, signed by about half the nations in the world (including the United States and the former Soviet Union), even states that countries must destroy any existing stockpiles of biological agents.

    Though the treaty has come under criticism for certain unclear or ambiguous phrases (it forbids "development" of biological weapons but allows "research" on them, and prohibits the use of biological agents for offensive purposes, but allow defensive agents to be stockpiled), it remains the world's best hope for the destruction of the threat of biological weapons. The United States, Russia, and other countries are taking steps to make sure genetic engineering techniques are not used to develop biological weapons.

Biological Weapons: Ethical Principles

Introduction Screening Cloning Therapy Environmental Issues
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