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Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons are living organisms or replicating entities. Entomological (insect) warfare is a subtype of biological warfare.
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents include bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same way as in biological warfare. Further, modern agribusiness is vulnerable to anti-agricultural attacks by terrorists, and such attacks can seriously damage economy as well as consumer confidence. The latter destructive activity is called agrobioterrorism and is a subtype of agro-terrorism.
Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction and/or spread of harmful organisms to animals and plants in order to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious disease. In agriculture, these measures are aimed at protecting food crops and livestock from pests, invasive species, and other organisms not conducive to the welfare of the human population. The term includes biological threats to people, including those from pandemic diseases and bioterrorism. The definition has sometimes been broadened to embrace other concepts, and it is used for different purposes in different contexts.
A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great damage to artificial structures, natural structures, or the biosphere. The scope and usage of the term has evolved and been disputed, often signifying more politically than technically. Originally coined in reference to aerial bombing with chemical explosives during World War II, it has later come to refer to large-scale weaponry of warfare-related technologies, such as chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear warfare.
The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), is a disarmament treaty that effectively bans biological and toxin weapons by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use. The treaty's full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction.
A biological agent is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism or biological warfare (BW). In addition to these living or replicating pathogens, toxins and biotoxins are also included among the bio-agents. More than 1,200 different kinds of potentially weaponizable bio-agents have been described and studied to date.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Stockholm. It was founded in 1966 and provides data, analysis and recommendations for armed conflict, military expenditure and arms trade as well as disarmament and arms control. The research is based on open sources and is directed to decision-makers, researchers, media and the interested public.
The State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR, also known as the Vector Institute, is a biological research center in Koltsovo, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia. It has research facilities and capabilities for all levels of Biological Hazard, CDC Levels 1–4. It is one of two official repositories for the now-eradicated smallpox virus, and was part of the system of laboratories known as the Biopreparat.
The Soviet Union covertly operated the world's largest, longest, and most sophisticated biological weapons program, thereby violating its obligations as a party to the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. The program began in the 1920s and lasted until at least September 1992 but has possibly been continued by Russia after that.
Biorisk generally refers to the risk associated with biological materials and/or infectious agents, also known as pathogens. The term has been used frequently for various purposes since the early 1990s. The term is used by regulators, security experts, laboratory personnel and industry alike, and is used by the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO/Europe also provides tools and training courses in biosafety and biosecurity.
Saddam Hussein (1937–2006) began an extensive biological weapons (BW) program in Iraq in the early 1980s, despite having signed the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) of 1972. Details of the BW program and a chemical weapons program surfaced after the Gulf War (1990–91) during the disarmament of Iraq under the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM). By the end of the war, program scientists had investigated the BW potential of five bacterial strains, one fungal strain, five types of virus, and four toxins. Of these, three—anthrax, botulinum and aflatoxin—had proceeded to weaponization for deployment. Because of the UN disarmament program that followed the war, more is known today about the once-secret bioweapons program in Iraq than that of any other nation.
Ukraine, a republic of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1922–1991, once hosted Soviet nuclear weapons and delivery systems on its territory. Together with Russia, Ukraine was a part of the former Soviet Union but its population voted overwhelmingly for independence in 1991, which ended any realistic chance of the Soviet Union staying together even on a limited scale.
The International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe — is an international non-governmental organisation uniting leading world-renowned experts on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, materials and delivery vehicles.
VEREX was an ad hoc committee assembled in 1991 by the Third Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) to research verification measures to enforce the BWC from a scientific and technical standpoint.
Richard High Ebright is an American molecular biologist. He is the Board of Governors Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University and Laboratory Director at the Waksman Institute of Microbiology.
Biosecurity in the United States is governed by the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, which is part of the US Department of State. It obtains guidance and advice on specific matters relating to biosecurity from various other government agencies.
Richard Lugar Center for Public Health Research is a research center (laboratory) based on the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, which was commissioned in 2011 and fully opened in August 2013. The LRC is the highest level of laboratory network in the country, representing the public health system referral library. The LRC is one of the best field of scientific biomedical and biosafety researches and preparation of students. The Center is accredited for graduate-level education, and has a BSL-3 facility.
The Chinese biological weapons program is a biological weapons program reported to have been active in the 1980s, and suspected by some governments and security analysts to remain covertly active. China is currently a signatory of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and Chinese officials have stated that China has never engaged in biological activities with offensive military applications. China was reported to have had an active biological weapons program in the 1980s. Members of the US intelligence community heavily suspect that the state of China had, as of 2015, at least 42 facilities that may be involved in research, development, production, or testing of biological agents.
The United Nations Secretary-General's Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM), is a tool that allows the Secretary-General to investigate alleged uses of biological or chemical weapons. The UNSGM is not a standing investigative body, but instead relies on a member state-provided list of qualified experts, consultants, and analytical laboratories that may be activated on short notice to support UNSGM investigations.
In March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian officials falsely claimed that public health facilities in Ukraine were "secret U.S.-funded biolabs" purportedly developing biological weapons, which was debunked as disinformation by multiple media outlets, scientific groups, and international bodies. The claim was amplified by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese state media, and was also promoted by followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory and subsequently supported by other far-right groups in the United States.
References
- ↑ "Dr Filippa Lentzos". King's College London . Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- 1 2 3 4 "Dr Filippa Lentzos | SIPRI". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- 1 2 3 "Filippa Lentzos - Biography - Research Portal, King's College, London". King's College London Research Portal. 2020-10-20. Archived from the original on 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- ↑ "Filippa Lentzos". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- ↑ "BWC NGO Coordinator – Dr Filippa Lentzos" . Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- ↑ "Coronavirus: Is there any evidence for lab release theory?". BBC News. 2020-05-01. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- ↑ Eaves, Elisabeth. "The Risks of Building Too Many Bio Labs". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- ↑ "The pieces of the puzzle of covid-19's origin are coming to light". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613 . Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- ↑ Newey, Sarah (2019-09-19). "Russian lab blast: smallpox facility passed WHO biosecurity inspection in January". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235 . Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- ↑ Yong, Ed (2018-10-04). "A Controversial Virus Study Reveals a Critical Flaw in How Science Is Done". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
- ↑ SPIEGEL, Alexander Mäder, DER (27 May 2020). "Krankheiten aus dem Labor: Wie sicher ist die Virenforschung? - DER SPIEGEL - Wissenschaft". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 2020-10-20.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Jacobsen, Rowan (July 2021). "Artificial Proteins Never Seen in the Natural World Are Becoming New COVID Vaccines and Medicines". Scientific American. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ↑ "3: Biological Weapons". EU Non-proliferation and Disarmament eLearning Course. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
