ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Biological WarfareAnother BIOS project focuses on engineering new molecularpathways that result in pigment changes in bacteriaupon exposure to a variety of bacterial and viralpathogens. A separate project seeks to engineer biologicalcircuits in the E. coli bacterium for sensing biologicalagents based on the well-known lac and mal operonsas models.❚ FURTHER READING:ELECTRONIC:Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DefenseSciences Office (March 11, 2003).SEE ALSOBiodetectorsBio-Engineered Tissue ConstructsBiological and Biomimetic SystemsBiological WarfareBiological Warfare, Advanced DiagnosticsBio-Optic Synthetic Systems (BOSS)Biosensor TechnologiesBiological Warfare❚ JUDYTH SASSOONBiological warfare, as defined by the United Nations, isthe use of any living organism (e.g. bacterium, virus) oran infective component (e.g., toxin), to cause diseaseor death in humans, animals, or plants. In contrast tobioterrorism, biological warfare is defined as the “statesanctioned”use of biological weapons on an opposingmilitary force or civilian population. Biological weaponsinclude pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and biological toxins.Of particular concern are genetically altered microorganisms,which are engineered to target a specific groupof people.Early History ofBiological WarfareExamples of the use of biological weapons exist in ancientrecords. In the sixth century B.C., Assyrians poisoned enemywells with ergot, a toxin derived from mold thatgrows on rye. Other records of battles document the useof diseased corpses to poison wells. In 1346, plagueinfectedcorpses and carcasses were catapulted into Kaffa,a city in current day Crimea, by the Tartar army. Theepidemic that resulted may have eventually led to thegreat Black Plague that afflicted Europe. In 1710, the Russianarmy used a similar military strategy when it invadedSweden. The Spanish are reported to have contaminatedFrench wine with blood taken from people suffering fromEncyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and SecurityChemical/biological warfare agent R400 aerial bombs, destroyed by theUnited Nations weapons inspectors after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, areseen at the Muthanna State Establishment in Iraq in 1998. AP/WIDEWORLD PHOTOS.leprosy in the mid-1400s. In the seventeenth century, aPolish general filled artillery shells with the saliva fromrabid dogs.Smallpox was used as a biological weapon severaltimes during the colonization of the Americas. The Spanishexplorer Pizarro gave blankets infested with the virusto natives in South America in the fifteenth century. SirJeffery Amherst presented blankets contaminated withthe smallpox virus to native Americans during the Frenchand Indian war between 1754 and 1767. The epidemic thatfollowed resulted in the surrender of a strategic fort to theEnglish. A Southern doctor is reported to have sold clothingcontaminated with smallpox to the Union Army duringthe Civil War.Modern History ofBiological WarfareDuring the twentieth century, modern scientific methodsled to the development, refinement, and stockpiling ofweapons of biological warfare by governments throughoutthe world. During World War I, Germany developed a115