Genetic weapons: a 21st-century nightmare?

UNESCO Courier, March, 1999 by Ethirajan Anbarasan

The spectre of new biological weapons made possible by the mapping of the human genome makes it more urgent than ever to prevent biotechnology research from being hijacked for evil purposes

It sounds like science fiction, but like many another prediction that was once dismissed as far-fetched it may become a reality.

Scientists have warned that recent advances in biological research could eventually lead to the creation of a new type of biological arsenal capable of targeting a specific group of human beings with common genetic characteristics, as may be the case with certain ethnic groups.

"It will unfortunately be possible to design biological weapons of this type when more information on genome research is available," says Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and health policy at the British Medical Association (BMA), the body which represents the medical profession in the United Kingdom.

This terrifying prospect may be an unwelcome piece of spin-off from research being carried out under the Human Genome Project (see box), an international scientific effort to map and sequence the genes in the human body and find out more about human DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the molecule which provides the biological instructions to make a human being.

Repairing defective genes

Late last year, genome research achieved a breakthrough when scientists for the first time deciphered the full genetic programming of an animal. The creature was a microscopic roundworm known as Caenorhabditis elegans, but because worms and humans have turned out to share many genes in common, the worm genome is regarded by biologists as an essential basis for understanding how the human genome works.

Scientists say a detailed understanding of genetic mechanisms of human beings will help them to find out the causes of many diseases. For example, knowledge of an individual's genetic make-up will enable doctors to predict whether or not a specific drug will work on a particular patient, allowing therapies to be more accurately targeted. Similarly, genetic testing for predisposition to a range of illnesses could become feasible, and by using what is known as gene therapy doctors would be able to replace deficient genes or repair defective ones.

However, genome research may turn out to have a grim downside.

It has proved that biologically there are more similarities between human beings than differences, further dissolving traditional prejudices of race and ethnicity. However, differences do exist, and if investigations provide sufficient data about ethnic genetic differences between population groups, it may one day be possible to target the groups with dangerous micro-organisms.

One specialist who takes this eventuality very seriously is Malcom R. Dando, Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University, England. In Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity, a newly published report which he wrote for the BMA, he examines the whole question of how the revolution in biotechnology might be used to attack the genetic constitution of an ethnic group.

"The social and ethical safeguards which may prevent ethnic conflict and weapons development need to be discussed urgently," he said in an interview. Although scientists agree that the technology to produce ethnic weapons is not a reality now, some feel there is a real chance that it may be developed within the next ten years. "No need to wait till the project is completed. Efforts to regulate genetic research should begin now," says Dando.

Prof. Dando says the world community is already struggling to eliminate existing biological weapons. These weapons, which carry agents spreading deadly diseases like anthrax and other lethal toxins, can devastate human beings without causing damage to buildings or infrastructure. Experts say that a few hundred kilograms of a "weaponized" bacterial preparation has the potential to wipe out up to three million inhabitants concentrated in a city like New York.

The apartheid regime in South Africa is widely believed to have developed forms of biological weaponry for use against the black population. In the past, however, countries have rarely used such biological weapons in warfare, partly because of their fear of eliminating friendly populations and killing their own combatants. The new developments in genetic research described by Professor Dando would remove these limitations.

Genetic information is already being used in some countries to "improve" biological weapons, e.g. by equipping them with agents to provide increased antibiotic resistance - and it is likely that this trend will accelerate as the knowledge and understanding of its applications become more widely known.

In the hands of terrorists or cult groups

The problem of the proliferation of biological weapon research has been aggravated by fall-out from the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Most of the nearly 30,000 scientists who were involved in biological research in the USSR during the 1980s are now out of a job because of the country's economic difficulties. Last year, some of them disclosed that they had been approached by certain countries which have shown particular interest in learning about microbes that can be used in war to destroy or protect crops, as well as genetic engineering techniques that could be used to make deadly germs for which there may be no antidotes.