of
Technology
Weaponization
As technological advances continue to be made, in regards to warfare, there is reason for concern. Concern and fear lies in the fact that “Biological weapons are unfortunately characterized by low visibility, high potency, substantial accessibility, and relatively easy delivery” (Danzig 1997). The smallest dose of anthrax or any other dangerous chemicals have the ability to be lethal. With biological weapons being so potent and being so relatively available we must take it very seriously as a national security threat. If it gets in the wrong hands there is a high probability that thousands and thousands of lives could be at risk. Perhaps the scariest aspect is the fact that most of the bacteria, toxins, and viruses used to create biotechnological weapons occur naturally in the environment and most of the technology used to turn them into weapons are easily attainable for the general public. Not only is the future of biotechnology a military risk, but also has the ability to be used by regular civilians.
Future outlook: The future of biological warfare is anything but science fiction. Movies, television and books may portray images of nations singeling out world leaders or terrorist via DNA (synthesis, DUJS, 2013)) and/or other biomarkers, or releasing some chemical agent into the current infrastructure of a heavily populated city, but the future is closer than we think. With the current advancements biomedical research these new technologies can drastically change the way the United States and other nations “go to war”. Some would argue that it is more “civil” or “humane” to focus on technologies that can kill a single person (via specific means), rather than sending in human troops to find and apprehend terrorist or leaders of rogue nations; but just because we can, should we? The world already fears the mass dispersal of Anthrax, Smallpox (currently only a few U.S. laboratories and Russia have access to the virus, vanAken, 2003), or other deadly biological, but it may only be a matter of years before governments (or terrorists) have the capabilities to disperse these agents on a national and/or global level.
Six paths to enhance biothreats are 1) Binary Biological Weapons, 2) Designer Genes, 3) Gene Therapy as a Weapon, 4) Stealth Viruses, 5) Host-Swapping Diseases, 6) Designer Diseases (from Ainscough, 2002).
Current Biotechnology
Future Biotechnology
