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

BioterrorismUniversity of Nebraska researchers explain laboratory automation equipment available to analyze bioterrorism agents to the Secretary of the Department ofHomeland Security, Tom Ridge, second from right. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS.bioterrorists from acquiring the materials and expertizeneeded to produce biological weapons.Genetic engineering can produce a wide variety ofbioweapons including bacteria or viruses that producetoxins. More conventional laboratory technologies canalso produce bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.Examples of the most likely to be used bioterroristweapons include smallpox (caused by the Variola virus),anthrax (caused by Bacillus anthracis), and plague (causedby Yersinia pestis).The last recorded case of smallpox was in Somalia in1977. As of 2002, only two facilities—one in the UnitedStates and one in Russia—are authorized to store thevirus. In spite of international prohibitions, security expertssuspect that smallpox viruses may be under developmentas biological weapons in other laboratories ofmany nations. As recently as 1992, Russia had the abilityto launch missiles containing weapons-grade smallpox. Anumber of terrorist organizations including Al Qaeda haveexplored the use of biological weapons.Bioterrorism may ultimately prove to be more destructivethan conventional warfare, because of the mobilityof the weapons and their ability to spread infectionthrough an entire population. An epidemic can spread adisease far from the point of origin of the illness.Preparing a strategy to defend against biological warfareis challenging. Traditional identification of microorganismssuch as bacteria and viruses relies on assays thatdetect growth of the microbes. Newer technologies detectmicrobes based on sequences of genetic material. Thegenetic technologies can detect microbes in minutes. Asof 2002, however, the genetic technologies are not availableto any but the most sophisticated field investigativeunits.Researchers are also working to counter bioterroristattacks using several other new technological strategies.For example, robots equipped with sensors or microchipmechanizedinsects (with computerized circuitry that canmimic biological processes such as neural networks) arebeing developed. Bees, beetles, and other insects outfittedwith sensors are used to collect real-time informationabout the presence of toxins or similar threats. These newtechnologies could be used to examine a suspected biologicalweapon and spare exposing investigators to potentialhazards. The robotics program of the DefenseAdvanced Research Project (DARPA) works to rapidlyidentify bio-responses to pathogens, and for designs toeffectively and rapidly treat them.124 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security