Everything you always wanted to know about Bioterrorism

March 15, 2001

Bioterrorism Special Report

In the last century, terrorists used violence to try and get power or

approval. Nowadays, those who feel marginalised within the world economy,

from religious extremists to the merely unhinged, increasingly just want to

kill people or damage industries. So far they have struck mainly with guns

and bombs. But the perfect weapon for those who wish only to kill or destroy

is germ warfare -- and we might have little defence.

Concern has risen mainly in the US, for several reasons. The US led the

confrontation with Iraq, which tried to make bioweapons, and probably

succeeded. This emerged during an unprecedented UN effort to hunt down and

destroy Iraq's weapons -- an effort ultimately abandoned, some say

prematurely.

There was also the defection of high-ranking Russian scientists to the US,

complete with tales of the Soviets' enormous germ warfare industry and its

frightening weapons. Whether or not Russia still has them, unknown clients

abroad are paying bankrupt Russian labs to tell them how to build them.

Some are sceptical about bioterrorism. Building an anthrax bomb would take

skill and effort and it is true that no one has succeeded with bioweapons so

far. It is also true that guns and bombs are still pretty effective and easy

to get hold of. And there has certainly been unwarranted scaremongering from

the preparedness industry.

But the motivation and the means are there. Eventually some bioterrorist

will attack. If you want to spread terror, disease is ideal. Epidemiological

monitoring, the equivalent of the nuclear era's distant early warning, is

not yet in place. Antibiotic and vaccine resistance, plus more accessible

genetic engineering, raises the spectre of superbug weapons. Meanwhile vital

agriculture is vulnerable. Diseases of livestock or crops disrupt economies

and exports, and could tempt commercial competitors as well as classic

terrorists.

So the world struggles to come to grips with the latest menace. There is a

treaty banning biological weapons, but we are only now writing verification

measures for it and they may not be effective. Efforts continue to unearth

what has gone on in Russia, South Africa and Iraq. And scientists around the

world are working on ways to detect and defeat, verify and prevent

deliberate disease, from vaccines to DNA libraries to germ-proof sealant

tape.

New Scientist has charted the rise in concern about bioterrorism, from Los

Alamos to Siberia, and is following the story. Follow the links on this page

to keep up to date with what's happening. Don't be afraid. Be informed.

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