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

Biological Weapons, Genetic IdentificationThe sequence of components that comprise the geneticmaterial (genome) of a microorganism can also bededuced using techniques such as electrophoresis. Oncea sequence is known, it can be compared to the manybacterial, viral, protozoal, and other microbial sequencesin databases, in order to determine if the deduced sequenceresembles a catalogued sequence. In this way,the nature and identity of biological weapons can bedetermined.Genetic engineering has also made possible the splicingof the genetic determinants for a lethal agent from onemicroorganism or other life form into another microbe.For example, the former Soviet Union experimented withthe instillation of the gene responsible for the productionof cobra toxin into normally harmless bacteria that residein the intestinal tract.While recent events in the United States and in othercountries, in particular Iraq, have brought biological weaponsinto prominence, the military use of biological weaponsis centuries old. The bloated bodies of disease victimswere routinely dumped into wells to poison the drinkingwater, or were even catapulted over the walls of fortifiedcities that were under siege.More recently, biological warfare was an acceptedpart of the military campaigns of governments around theworld. During World War I, for example, Germany activelyexplored the weaponization of Bacillus anthracis andBurkholderia mallei. The latter causes Glanders disease incattle. Its’ use was intended to cripple the agriculture baseof the enemy.During World War II, Britain also intended to crippleGerman agriculture by airdropping discs (or cakes) ofanthrax. Indeed, five million anthrax cakes were ultimatelyproduced, although they were not used. Also during thiswar, German and Japanese prisoners were used as guineapigs in the testing of microbial weapons, including hepatitisA, Plasmodia species, Rickettsia, Neisseria meningitis,Bacillus anthracis, Shigella species, and Yersinia pestis.The U.S. had an active biological weapons program duringWorld War II, and extending even into the 1960s. Thisprogram was finally terminated in 1968 by the order ofthen president Richard Nixon.The production of biological weapons can be accomplishedwith relatively unsophisticated microbiologicaltechnology and by a typically trained microbiologist.Furthermore, the equipment necessary to accomplish weaponization(i.e., incubators, autoclaves, fermenters,centrifuges, refrigerators, and lyophilizers) can be housedin only a few thousand square feet. Thus, biological weaponsmanufacture is not difficult to conceal.Furthermore, while biological weapons can be deployedin traditional weaponry (i.e., rockets), the weaponscan also be literally carried in someone’s pocket to thetarget site. This can make the deployment of biologicalweapons virtually impossible to stop, unless the carrierpasses near an instrument designed to detect the biologicalagent.Microorganisms are very light and so can be dispersedeasily in air currents. This is especially true forbacterial spores, which, when dried, are powdery in texture.Furthermore, because exposure to only a few sporescan be sufficient to cause disease (e.g., the inhalation formof anthrax, which is caused by spores of Bacillus anthracis),the biological weapon can be easily delivered to the target.The anthrax-containing letters that were mailed in theUnited States in the latter part of 2001 attest to the ease ofdelivery.Bacillus anthracis and Clostridium botulinum are twoprominent examples of spore-forming bacteria that havebeen used as bioweapons. Spore forming bacteria normallygrow and reproduce as “vegetative” cells. But, inharsh environmental conditions that threaten the survivalof the bacteria, the microbes have evolved the ability totransform into an almost dormant form known as a spore.The spore is surrounded by a resilient coat that allows it topersist for decades, perhaps even centuries. When conditionsagain become favorable for growth and reproduction,the spore resuscitates into the vegetative form. Thus,if spore biological weapons do not kill immediately, theresidual spores can persist to cause illness many years later.The microbial agents used as biological weapons aretypically highly infectious. The direct exposure of even asmall number of people to the weapon can quickly lead toa large number of illnesses or casualties. Bacteria such asClostridium botulinum and various species of Salmonellareadily cause contamination, either by their growth infood or by the production of potent toxins. Such foodbornemicrobial threats are also considered to be biologicalweapons. Indeed, in the aftermath of the U.S. anthraxattacks in 2001, the vulnerability to sabotage of the foodproduction and supply systems in many countries hasbecome evident.Ironically, the features that make biological weaponsattractive to those who wage war or terrorism, namelytheir ease of dispersal, particularly via air, and theirinfectivity, has also proved to be a stumbling block to theiruse. A shift in the prevailing wind can carry the lethalpayload back to those who deployed it, similar to thechemical warfare casualties that occurred during WorldWar I. For example, the open air testing of anthrax onGruinard Island off of the coast of Scotland in 1941 madethe island inhabitable for decades afterwards. In a secondexample, as part of the U.S. Army’s “Operation Sea Spray”in 1951–1952, balloons filled with Serratia marcescenswere exploded over San Francisco, to evaluate the effectivenessof aerial biological warfare on a major urbancenter. The organism, which up until then was thoughtto be innocuous, allegedly produced an increase ofpneumonias and urinary tract infections in the citizens ofthe city. As a final example, an accidental release ofanthrax spores from a bioweapons facility in 1979 killed 66people and sickened over 70 who were 4 kilometers downwind,in the city of Sverdlovsk, in the former Soviet Union.Sheep and cattle up to 50 kilometers downwind became ill.118 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security