editorial 2 invited articles 3editorial 2 invited articles 3 opinion 8 cover story 11 country...

Winter / July-December 2011

Winter / July-December 2011

EDITORIAL 2

INVITED ARTICLES 3

OPINION 8

COVER STORY 11

COUNTRY PROFILE 34

KALEIDOSCOPE 38

CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL NEWS 39

BOOK REVIEW 44 Iran's Nuclear, Chemical and Biological

Capabilities - A net assessment (An IISS

Strategic Dossier) 2011

M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi

Weapons of War: State Actors and Chemical

Weapon through the Years

Animesh Roul

Biological agents: Uncontrolled entry of

exotic pathogens a major dent for Indian

economy and security

Y. Ashok Babu

An Overview of the Advances Made in

Biotechnology and Related BTWC Concerns

B. M. Gandhi

Chemical Weapons in Sri Lanka

Gulbin Sultana

July-Dec 2011 1

CBW M a g a z i n eM a g a z i n eM a g a z i n eM a g a z i n eM a g a z i n eJournal on Chemical and Biological Wepons

Volume 4 Number 3-4 July-Dec 2011

ISSN: 0974-0619

EDITORIAL 2

INVITED ARTICLES 3Weapons of War: State Actors and Chemical Weapon

through the Years

Mr. Animesh Roul

OPINION 8Biological agents: Uncontrolled entry of exotic pathogens a

major dent for Indian economy and security

Dr. Y. Ashok Babu

COVER STORY 11An Overview of the Advances Made in Biotechnology and

Related BTWC Concerns

Dr. B.M. Gandhi

COUNTRY PROFILE 34Chemical Weapons in Sri Lanka

Ms. Gulbin Sultana

KALEIDOSCOPE 38

CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL NEWS 39

BOOK REVIEW 44Iran's Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Capabilities - A net

assessment (An IISS Strategic Dossier) 2011

Dr. M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi

Journal on Chemical and Biological Weapons 2

Editorial

Executive Editor

Ajey Lele

Assistant Editors

Gunjan Singh

Avinash Anil Godbole

Technology is critically important forproliferation monitoring, detection and

control of potentially harmful biologicalcomponents. Policy makers and analysts arekeenly looking at the 7th Review Conferenceof the BTWC as there have been majordevelopments in the field of science andtechnology in the last five years. In view ofthis, this issue attempts to highlight theimportant developments in the field ofbiotech and chemical industries.

In this issue, Dr. B. M. Gandhi discusses fewdual-use technologies and their importance.He argues that developments in areas ofengineering, computing, chemistry, physicsetc are greatly affecting the growth ofbiotechnology. Mr. Animesh Roul argues thatthe newer developments in the area ofchemical industry have increased the threatfrom chemical weapons. In the opinionsection, Dr. Y. Ashok Babu highlights the factthat with the recent terrorist incidents andincreased threat from non-state players theidea of a possible attack by BW agents hasgained strength.

This issue also features other regular sectionslike Country Profile, Kaleidoscope, Chemicaland Biological News and Book Review.

As per our readers feedback, we wish topublish issues in the future that focus on asubject of particular concern.

Contributions and feedback are welcome andcan be addressed to: [email protected]

July-Dec 2011 3

L ike the other weapons of massdestruction, Chemical warfare agents

(Chemical weapons-CW) have all theappalling elements which represent a seriousdanger to the living beings at large. Countrieslike the US, UK, China, Russia, Iraq andLibya were the pioneers in the field ofchemical weapons research and productionin the world. As a matter of fact, any countrywhich possessed a well-developed chemicalindustry could produce chemical agents forwarfare purposes. Presently, large numbersof industrialized countries have the potentialto produce a variety of chemical agents.

Chemical warfare agents have been definedin a report authorized by the United NationsGeneral Assembly as “chemical substances,whether gaseous, liquid, or solid, whichmight be employed because of their directtoxic effects on human, animals and plants.”1

These toxic chemical agents (CWs) may beused to accomplish a wide variety of militarymissions. Tagged as ‘search weapons’, theCW agents are able to penetrate shelters,buildings, trenches, bunkers and other typesof military fortifications; they are alsocapable of inflicting casualties over largeareas without damaging vital economic andmilitary infrastructures. Chemical weaponagents are largely invisible andindiscriminate in their effects and offer aprospect of killing or incapacitating enemiesand civilians. This category of insidiousweapons generates more fear than anyother conventional munitions; could verywell terrorize civilian populations anddemoralize any ill-equipped and exposedmilitary units.

CWs in World Wars

Throughout the history of warfare attemptshave been made to use chemical agents asweapons of war. Most attempts wereunsuccessful until the growth of the chemical

Weapons of War:State Actors andChemicalWeapon throughthe YearsMr. Animesh Roul

The author is ExecutiveDirector, Society of Study ofPeace and Conflict

Summary

Throughout the history of warfareattempts have been made to usechemical agents as weapons of war.Most attempts were unsuccessfuluntil the growth of the chemicalindustry during the latter-half of the19th century. By the outbreak ofWorld War I in 1914, the first militarychemical agents were already in thearsenals of the major powers.

Invited Articles


industry during the latter-half of the 19th

century. By the outbreak of World War I in1914, the first military chemical agents werealready in the arsenals of the major powers.The French were the first to use chemicalagents in the form of tear gas grenadesagainst the Germans, who defoliated withtear gas artillery shells. Their effect wasminimal, mainly due to a complete lack ofunderstanding of how to utilize such weapons.On April 22, 1915, the Germans launched achlorine gas attack against British andFrench troops at Ypres resulting in 5000deaths.2 The second major development wasthe use by the Germans of mustard gas andphosgene at Verdun in 1917. The persistenceof this agent and its effects were such that ina few months the number of Britishcasualties reached 125, 000, one third of thetotal British gas casualties for the whole war.3

The only incidents involving the actual useof gases between the world wars were in1936, when the Italians employed a type ofmustard gas against the Abyssinians(Ethiopians), and several occasions in 1937and 1945, when Japan attacked China. About50,000 Ethiopian army fatalities werecaused by chemical weapons during theItalian invasion. It is stated that the Italiansused mainly vesicants and asphyxiants.4

The use of gas against Chinese civilians wasextensive between 1941 and 1942. WhenChinese peasants took refuge from theinvaders in the caves and tunnels, theJapanese troops used chemical agents todrive them out. In May 1942, Japanesesoldiers are said to have discharged gas intothe tunnels, killing some 800 Chinesepeople.5 After World War II, there have beennumerous reports of the use of poison gas inwarfare. The first was in Korea and China inthe early 1950s. It was claimed that in May1951, one B-29 aircraft attacked the city ofNampo (North Korea) with gas bombs. As aresult, a thousand people were affected and

nearly 50% died of suffocation.6 Again inJuly, August and in January of the next year,US planes were said to have spread gas inWon San and Hwanghai. However, thecasualties and damage done by these attackswere not known.

CWs in the Post World War Era

During the 1963-67 civil-wars in the Yemenbetween the Royalist regime and theRepublican authorities, allegations weremade that lethal gas was used by Egyptianforces. It was alleged that gas had killedpeople and animals by asphyxiation in Kitaf(North Yemen) in January 1967.7

Chemical agents were used on a large scaleas defoliants to remove jungle growth andprevent their use as cover for guerrillaactivities in Indo-China in 1960-70. Afterthis, it was left to the Iran-Iraq conflict tospawn yet another round of large scale useof chemical weapons in war. The war showeddefinite evidence of the employment of nerveand mustard agents in the Persian Gulf Warduring 1980-88. It is necessary to discuss atlength the massive use of chemical agents inthese two above mentioned wars, not onlybecause of large-scale employment ofchemical agents but also because of itsdevastating effects on ecology and mankind.Also the curious case of Libya needs specialmention here which secretly stockpiled CWseven after declaring and destroying some ofthem as per international obligations.

Beginning in 1961, the United States startedthe “experimental” use of herbicides in SouthVietnam as a weapon to exterminate forestsand crops The initial objective was toundermine the economic resources of thenational liberation movement. In 1962,defoliants became a central weapon inoverall chemical and biological warfarestrategy of America throughout South-eastAsia. Estimates suggest that between 1965

July-Dec 2011 5

and 1970, more than 50,000 tons ofherbicides were dropped on South Vietnamalone.8 Although the operation began withthe intention of merely destroying theeconomic base of the National LiberationFront (NLF), it was soon expanded into acritical aspect of the shift from ground to airpower in South Vietnam. Besides destroyingcrops, defoliants were used to destroy theforest canopy that hid NLF Forces fromdetection by air.

The major anti-plant agents that wereemployed by the United States in Indo-China were 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T, cacodylic acid andpicloram. The agents used have beendescribed in two classes, herbicides anddefoliants.9 Most of the anti-plant chemicalswere dispersed from C-123 transportaircraft equipped to deliver somewhat over3600 litres. Some were dispensed fromhelicopters, and others by truck and boat-mounted spray rigs.Official Americanreports state that from 1961 only five millionacres of land were sterilised. But Vietnamesestatements contend that in the first twomonths of 1969 alone, some 37 of the 44provinces of South Vietnam were sprayed,contaminating 285,000 people. At least 500people died. In these raids more than905,000 hectares of rice, orchards and othercrops were destroyed. Between late 1961 andOctober 1969, it is estimated that 43 per-cent of the arable land and 44 per-cent ofthe total forest area of South Vietnam weresprayed at least once and in many cases twoor three times with herbicides. Over1,293,000 people were directlycontaminated.10 Due to this, agriculturalproductivity has been severely curtailed inmany regions. The delta area of SouthVietnam, once considered the rice bowl ofSouth-east Asia, became an importer of ricefrom foreign countries.11 Besides defoliantsand herbicides, more than 7,000 tons ofother poisonous gases were used between1964 and 1969.

Both Iran and Iraq used poison chemicals anumber of times during the course of warbetween 1980 and 1988. By 1983, Iraqiproduction of mustard gas was sufficient forIraq to begin to deliver small amounts withartillery, fighters, and MI-8 helicopters. Itis unclear exactly when Iraq developedbombs using chemical agents, but it seemsto have used 250-kilogram bombs boughtfrom Spain.12 In comparison to Iraq, Iranseems to have begun a crash effort to acquirean internal production capability in 1983-1984. These efforts began to pay off in 1986-1987. Iran began to produce enough lethalagents to load its own weapons. Like Iraq, itcould produce blood agents like hydrogencyanide and phosgene gas.

It was alleged by Iranian governmentalagencies that by the autumn of 1984 Iraqhad used chemical weapons in more than 130instances since the beginning of the Gulf Warin 1980, killing or injuring at least 3500people, including non-combatants.13 OnMarch 12, 1985, within a few hours of theopening of the long-expected Iranianoffensive across the Hoveyzeh Marshes, theofficial Iranian news agency announced thatIraq intended to use chemical weapons. Overthe next four weeks, according to Iranianreports, there were 32 further attacks inwhich 4600 Iranians were killed or injuredby chemical weapons.14

Iraq continued to use chemical agents in itswar with Iran. During the second week ofFebruary 1986, around 10 percent of a largeIranian force attacking Faw became casualtyto chemical weapons; some 2000 people aresaid to have been burned with mustard gason February 13 alone.15 In mid April 1987,it was alleged that Iran used mustard, tabunand phosgene in artillery shells against Iraqiforces on the Southern Front causing 385casualties.16 This was denied by the Iraniangovernment. Iraq made massive use ofchemical weapons during its re capture of


Faw in early 1988 and in its assaults torecover its positions outside Basra. By April1988, Iran claimed that the new round ofattacks had raised the total number ofcasualties from chemical weapons since thestart of the war to around 25,600, with some260 dead.17 During the final months beforethe cease-fire, Iraq used chemical weaponsin its attacks on Iranian positions in Mehran,the Majnoon Islands, the Hawizeh Marshesand Deh Loran. The worst single use of gasagainst civilians occurred at the village ofHalabjah on 16 March 1988 when mustardgas and nerve agents were used to kill up to5,000.18

The other example is Libya which producedchemical weapons during the 1980s, and issuspected to have used CWs against Chadiantroops in September 1987.19 The notoriousRabta industrial complex (located southwestof Tripoli) produced mustard gas, sarin, andphosgene. The Gaddafi regime declaredpossession of at least 25 metric tonnes ofmustard agent and 1,400 metric tonnes ofprecursor chemicals, which are used to makechemical weapons.20 Even though the Rabtaremained inactive and Libya destroyedsome chemical weapon artillery shells underthe supervision of the Organization for theProhibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),it is now came to light that the just oustedLibyan regime has stockpiled CWs secretly,in an apparent breach of promises made in2004 when Libya joined the OPCW.

Conclusion

The intentional use of chemical weapons inVietnam has set a dangerous precedent.Though some have gone so far as to describeit as a valuable experiment in ecology, itmust be considered as one of the mostirresponsible and criminal acts of thecentury. This so-called experiment led to amajor proliferation of chemical weapons,especially in the Third World countries,

where chemical weapons are considered a“poor man’s” nuclear weapon. Most of thesecountries argued for the production andstockpile of CWs only because of the idea ofa chemical weapons stockpile as a deterrent.The production and use of chemical weaponsfor the Iran-Iraq war and the case of Libya’ssecret CW arsenal demonstrated theproliferation and capability of State actorsto produce militarily significant arsenals ofweapons of mass destruction.

However, this proliferation of chemicalweapons was not confined to nations alone.The ability of terrorist groups and individualsto disseminate chemical weapons is an issueof considerable concern in recent times. The1995 Japanese subway attack demonstratesthis ability when the religious cult AumShinrikyo used lethal sarin nerve gas in abusy subway in Tokyo, killing and injuringmany people.21 This development aptlyreflected the availability and danger of CWsin the hands of terrorist groups as well asrogue states.

Endnotes:

1 United Nations, Chemical and BacteriologicalWeapon and the Effects of their Possible Use,UN Publications, New York, 1969, p. 5.

2 John Cookson, Judith Nottingham, A Surveyof Chemical and Biological Warfare, MonthlyReview Press, 1971, p. 5.

3 S. Murphy, et al., No Fire, No Thunder: TheThreat of Chemical and Biological Weapons,Pluto Press, London, 1984, p. 8.

4 SIPRI, The Rise of CB Weapons: The Problem ofChemical and Biological Warfare Series, vol. I,Humanities Press, New York, 1971, pp. 142-143.

5 Ibid., p. 149.

6 Murphy, et al., No Fire, No Thunder, p. 15.

7 W. Andrew Terrill, “The Chemical WarfareLegacy of the Yemen War,” ComparativeStrategy,. No. 10, April-June I991.

July-Dec 2011 7

8 Orville Schell and B. Weisberg, “Ecocide inIndo-China”, in B. Weisberg, ed., Ecocide inIndo-China: The Ecology of War, CanfieldPress, San Francisco, 1970, p. 19.

9 SIPRI, Ecological Consequences of the SecondIndo-China War, Almqvist and Wiksell,Stockholm, 1976, pp. 24-25.

10 Schell and Weisberg, “Ecocide in Indo-China”,in Barry Weisberg (ed.), Ecocide in Indo-Chinathe Ecology of War, Canfield Press, SanFrancisco, 1970, pp. 18-19.

11 Ibid., 20.

12 Anthony Cordesman, Iran and Iraq: The Threatfrom Northern Gulf, West View Press, Boulder,1994, p. 247.

13 J.P. Robinson, “Chemical and BiologicalWarfare: Developments in 1984” in SIPRIYearbook 1985, Taylor and Francis, London,1985, pp. 181-183.

14 J.P. Robinson, “Chemical and BiologicalWarfare: Developments in 1985” in SIPRIYearbook 1986, Oxford University Press, NewYork, p. 163.

15 J.P. Robinson, “Chemical and BiologicalWarfare”, Development in 1986", in SIPRIYearbook 1987, pp. 97-98.

16 J.P. Robinson, “Chemical and BiologicalWarfare: Developments in 1985”, in SIPRIYearbook 1986, p. 163.

17 J.P. Robinson, “Chemical and Biological WarfareDevelopment in 1986”, in SIPRI Yearbook1987, pp. 97-98.

18 “Saddam Hussein”, http://w w w . m o r e o r l e s s . a u . c o m / k i l l e r s /hussein.html.

19 W. Andrew Terrill, “Libya and the Quest forChemical Weapons,” Conflict Quarterly, Vol. 14(1), 1994, p. 55.

20 “The OPCW and Libya,” n.d. Accessed on 12November 2011, available at http://www.opcw.org/the-opcw-and-libya/

21 “The Sarin Gas Attack in Japan and the RelatedForensic Investigation”, 1 June 2001, Accessedon 12 November 2011, available at http://www.opcw.org/news/article/the-sarin-gas-attack-in-japan-and-the-related-forensic-investigation/


Opinion

The history of use of biological agents (BW)date backs to 595BC, where extracts of

toxic plants hellebore was used to poison thewater supply of town Delphi during firstsacred war. Since then, use of biologicalagents evolved both in variety and deliverytechnology till Biological WeaponsConvention came in force in 1973, which hasreduced the threat of use of biological warfareagents. However, even before that, with thedevelopment of nuclear bomb, use ofbiological agents as weapons of choice becomeless attractive since biological agents lack themagnitude of destruction when compared tonuclear weapons and also due to the fact thatmedical technologies to contain the spreadof most of the biological agents advanced dueto breakthrough research. However, withthe recent terrorist incidents and increasedthreat from non-state players, the threat ofpossible use of BW agents has re-emerged.

Based on the potential extent of destructiona biological agent can cause, they areclassified in to two different groups;1.Contagious pathogens such as bacteria,virus which can spread rapidly across thepopulation causing mass destruction and2.Biological toxins, which are non-contagiousbut are highly lethal such as botilinumtoxin,risin, saxitosin etc.

During and after the World War II, variouskind biological agents were weaponised. Itmost included anthrax causing bacilli, vibriocholera, and burkhalderia species againstlivestock, among others. All the countriesthat are signatory to the BWC havedestroyed stockpiles of biological warfareagents. Small quantities of samples are stillavailable with some of developed countriesfor the purpose of developing vaccines anddetection technologies in case of futureoutbreaks. Though India does not have anybiological warfare agents in its procession, ithas signed and ratified the BWC in 1973.

Biologicalagents:Uncontrolledentry of exoticpathogens amajor dent forIndian economyand securityDr. Y. Ashok Babu

The author is a Scientist-C,Defence Research andDevelopment Establishment,DRDE, Gwalior.

Summary

During and after World War II,various kinds of biological agents wereweaponised. These included anthraxcausing bacilli, vibrio cholera, andburkhalderia species againstlivestock, among others. All thecountries that are signatory to theBWC have destroyed stockpiles ofbiological warfare agents. Smallquantities of samples are still availablewith some of developed countries forthe purpose of developing vaccinesand detection technologies in case offuture outbreaks.

July-Dec 2011 9

The Present Scenario

The threat of the use of biological agents bynon-state players reemerged after thecontroversial use of anthrax spores in themails sent to US congressmen. Subsequently,the threat perception has become larger thanthe threat itself. This changed perception hastremendously increased the financial burdenon developed and developing countries alike.The cost of development of defense againstBW agents is enormous when compared tothat of developing the weapon, especially inthe developing and poor countries where theinfrastructure is poor. Development ofdefence technologies in this area includessurveillance, detection (Diagnosis), prognosisand protection (medical protection). Thecomplexity of detection and protectionagainst biological agents varies betweentypes of pathogen. For example, viral agentsare most potent of the biological agents dueto the complexity of development ofprotection techniques when compared toother pathogens and also due to their rate ofspread to larger areas.

In the recent times, there have beenoutbreaks of infection with various exoticand mutant viral pathogens across the worldwhich includes avian influenza, SARS, Swineflu, Dengue fever etc. The rapidity of spreadand virulence of these pathogens iscomparable to that of any classified biologicalagents. Unfortunately all these exoticinfections have had easy entry into India andthey have caused enormous loss in bothhuman and financial terms. As mentionedearlier, the spread of this pathogen is fasterthan any other bacterial pathogen.Therefore, rapid development of diagnostictechniques and procurement of medicines isessential which in turn causes enormousfinancial burden. Contrary to belief, duringthe recent instances of outbreaks, eventhough temperate climates were morefavorable for spread of pathogen, many

countries such as Japan, USA, and EUmembers were successfully able to containthe spread of these pathogens due to theavailability of modern infrastructure andeffective surveillance. As mentioned earlier,surveillance is the first and strongest step tocontain spread of pathogen. However, inmany cases, surveillance and detection worktogether to contain spread of pathogens.Focusing on the above aspects tremendouslyreduces the risk of infection and also easesthe associated financial burden. Disease orpathogen surveillance in the above scenariois a co-ordinate task involving people ofvarious expertises ranging from intelligenceand law enforcement agencies to scientist anddoctors. As pathogenicity and ease of spreadof diseases like SARS is comparable to BWagents, preparedness to combat againstthese exotic pathogens should be at the samelevel. Japan and other countries successfullyprevented the entry and spread of exoticpathogen by many tier surveillance andmonitoring systems right from the entrypoints such as Airports, Sea ports and othercross country entry points. They weresuccessful because preventive measures ofpathogen surveillance are cost effective whencompared to enormous financial burden thatthe spread of pathogen bring about.

Conclusion

India’s biotechnology and pharmaceuticalindustries are developing in positive ways.They are also interacting with other agenciesto increase their effectiveness in researchand development of appropriate medicines.However, since India is a developing andexpanding market, efforts need to be madeto put in place adequate checks and balancesto ensure that their growth is not harmedbecause of vested interests. At another level,there is a necessity for effective diseasesurveillance right from the point of entry intothe country to prevent spread of exotic anddangerous pathogens. These prophylactic


measures can effectively reduce the financialburden and loss of human life.

References

1. Mayor, Adrienne (2003), Greek Fire, PoisonArrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological andChemical Warfare in the Ancient World,Woodstock, N.Y.; Overlook Duckworth.

2. The Biological Weapons Convention, n. d. ,UNOG, Accessed on 4the November 2011,available at http://www.unog.ch/8 0 2 5 6 E E 6 0 0 5 8 5 9 4 3 / ( h t t p P a g e s ) /04FBBDD6315AC720 C1257180004B1B2F?OpenDocument

July-Dec 2011 11

An Overview ofthe AdvancesMade inBiotechnologyand RelatedBTWC ConcernsDr. B. M. Gandhi

Chief Executive OfficerNeoBioMed Services

The author was formerly advisor tothe Government of India in theDepartment of Biotechnology,

Ministry of Science and Technology.

Summary

BTWC is apprehensive ofdevelopment of dual-use technologiesin the areas of genetic engineering,biotechnology and microbiology, forhigh growth of products and processesthat are capable of being used forpurposes inconsistent with itsobjectives and provisions. Theseinclude all microbial and otherbiological agents or toxins, naturallyor artificially created or altered,irrespective of their origin or methodof production.

This paper is a collation of informationavailable from literature in public

domain.

Cover StoryIntroduction

The Biological and Toxin WeaponsConvention (BTWC) entails prohibition

of the development, production andstockpiling and acquisition of biological andtoxin weapons. Efforts were made tonegotiate a protocol to include detailedinvestigation and verification to ensure thatparticipating countries fulfilled theirobligations of non-acquisition or retention ofmicrobial or other biological agents or toxinsharmful to plants, animals and humans, intypes and in quantities that would have nojustification for prophylactic, protective andother peaceful purposes. However, thediscussions were inconclusive.

BTWC is apprehensive of development ofdual-use technologies in the areas of geneticengineering, biotechnology and microbiology,for high growth of products and processesthat are capable of being used for purposesinconsistent with its objectives andprovisions. These include all microbial andother biological agents or toxins, naturallyor artificially created or altered, irrespectiveof their origin or method of production.Increased knowledge of uses of manypathogenic species of micro-organisms,extraction of toxins and other biologicalagents and the pace of development in civilbiotechnology further accentuate thepossibilities of production and hostile use ofbiological agents. Dual-use technologies, eventhough they may not in principle contraveneBTWC, can be used to create agents foroffensive purposes. Current efforts bynations focus intensively on technologies forcreating new means of protection againstbiological threats.

Developments in areas like physics andchemistry and engineering, computationaland material sciences greatly impactprogress in biotechnology. Genetic


engineering, biotechnology, toxicology,molecular biology and other related scienceshave also made it possible to create a newgeneration of biological weapons (BW).Scientific and technological developmentswhich would lead to transformation inorganisms to be used as BW could include (i)increase in the virulence and antibioticresistance of pathogenic agents; (ii)enhancing non-transmissible agents forairborne transmission; and (iii) creatingorganisms or biological products capable ofacting on humans and ecosystems (parasites,insect-pests, disease vectors, etc.). Technicaldevelopments of major concern to BTWCwould include:

Bio-defence: BW are capable of inflictingcasualties over a large area with militaryeffectiveness. Factors impacting theireffectiveness may include use of novel agentsthat are not well characterized and for whichthere may not be vaccines or treatment.Decontamination may be difficult if deployedsensors cannot detect the agents utilized.The process of scientific and technologicalchanges in detection, identification, diagnosisand protection provides increased capabilitiesto counter or protect against BW.

Genetic modifications: Advances in geneticsand genetic modification techniques aremaking new types of vaccines feasible. Thereis considerable research towards geneticallymodified live vaccines able to immunizesimultaneously against multiple antigens.Advances in knowledge of the molecular basisof antigens have led to antibody reagents ofimproved specificity.

Mechanism of action of micro-organisms:Understanding the mechanism of action ofmicro-organisms gives direct access to themechanism of action of potential BW agents.Using molecular biology, mechanisms ofvirulence and infection have been identified;the same techniques may also permit

deliberate manipulation of thesemechanisms. Transferring certain genetictraits into naturally infectious micro-organisms can potentially create organismsof greater virulence, antibiotic resistance andenvironmental stability. Changing themicrobes genetically could alter theirimmunogenicity, thereby invalidatingvaccines and sero-diagnostic techniques.Otherwise harmless micro-organisms couldbe altered to produce toxaemia or disease:the host would continue to recognize themas innocuous and therefore not defendagainst them.

Micro-biological developments: Humanunderstanding of a number of factors of directrelevance to protein synthesis and assemblyhas increased enormously. Remarkableprogress has been made in the application ofthis knowledge to the production andisolation of heterologous proteins from E. coliand other bacteria like yersenia. Differentexpression systems are being tried.

Human Genome Project (HGP): Theimmediate benefits of HGP will be theidentification and localization of genes causinghereditary diseases and simplification of thedevelopment of pharmaceutical drugs fortreatment of hereditary diseases. It will alsogreatly refine their prenatal diagnosis.Investigations also provide sufficient data onethnic genetic differences betweenpopulation groups. Such data would alsoprovide target-suitable micro-organisms toattack known receptor sites for whichdifferences exist at cell membrane level oreven to target DNA sequences inside cellsby viral vectors.

Toxins and Regulators: Genetic engineeringhas made possible large-scale extraction andproduction of potent toxins, which until nowwere available only in minute quantities andonly upon isolation from immense amountsof natural biological materials. These toxins

July-Dec 2011 13

can now be produced in kilogram quantitiesin a short time with minimum cost, whichcould be of military significance. Rapidprogress has also occurred in themodification of naturally occurringbioregulators, in understanding thephysiological effect of certain essentialbiological substances when they are presentin abnormal concentrations or underabnormal conditions, and in understandingthe possible pathogenic effects of proteins.

Of special interest to BTWC are applicationsof biotechnology in directed molecularevolution such as genetic modification,recombinant technologies, proteomics, bio-informatics, and synthetic and systemsbiology. Some of these technologies vis-à-vispotential applications of consequence toBTWC are discussed in the followingparagraphs.

Recombinant DNA (R-DNA)Technologies

Recent advances in biotechnology haveenabled rapid and relatively inexpensiveidentification, characterization, mapping,manipulation and synthesis of genes andshort strands of genetic material. They havehelped in advancing modification of DNA orRNA in plant or animal cells or in micro-organisms like bacteria, viruses or fungi,resulting in their acquiring new uniqueproperties. These techniques have a verywide range of applications in healthcare,agriculture and animal husbandry. They arebeing developed as simple to use and cost-effective; and because of their efficiency andrange of potential applications, a largernumber of people has access to them for usein academic institutions and industry. At thesame time, these technologies have openedavenues for dual use for nefarious purposes.rDNA techniques of relevance to BTWCinclude:

i. Genetic engineering: Geneticengineering technologies have helped inmanipulation of both DNA viruses andRNA viruses by inserting specific genesor nucleotide sequences into a hostgenome. Through reverse geneticengineering, researchers can introduceviral RNA into bacterial cells, where itcan then be manipulated much moreeasily. Clones have already beenconstructed for viruses like poliovirus,yellow fever virus, H1N1 influenza A,rabies, and others. It is also nowpossible to reverse-engineer dangerousviruses like corona viruses, H1N1influenza A and H5N1.

ii. DNA synthesis: DNA synthesis is denovo generation of genetic sequencesthat specifically program cells for theexpression of a given protein.Technology enhancements coupledwith automation and mechanizationhave increased the speed, ease, andaccuracy with which larger sequencescan be generated chemically. Examplesare syntheses of genomes of poliovirusand the 1918 influenza virus. Thisraises concerns that more complexdangerous organisms, such as thesmallpox virus, may be synthesized denovo some day.

iii. Genome sequencing: HGP andadvances in sequencing technologyhave helped generate genomics data fora number of pathogenic micro-organisms. These data have helpedcharacterize their properties and theirmode of action, including virulencefactors, which form the basis for newtherapies, vaccines and medicinal drugs.This wealth of information can also bemisused to enhance the pathogenicityof micro-organisms through geneticmodification or to convert harmlessorganisms into a pathogenic variant


that is difficult to detect, diagnose ortreat.

iv. Fusion protein: This technologyinvolves insertion of a toxin in a protein,enabling it to identify and kill specificcells. This is currently being researchedwith a view to target and kill cancercells. But programming the toxindifferently could make it possible to killcells essential to life.

v. Combinatorial chemistry:

Combinatorial chemistry involvestechnologies to generate huge librariesof synthetic compounds with diverseproperties in order to screen them foractivity against biological drug targets.It contributes to drug discovery anddevelopment and to the search forbetter superconductors and biosensorsfor the detection of medically importantmolecules and environmental toxins.But these libraries could also be quicklyand easily searched by those withmalign intent for compounds with thepotential to interact with endogenousphysiological pathways for use asbiochemical weapons.

vi. High-Throughput (HTP)Technologies: HTP screening usedfor assessment of compounds withtherapeutic potential impliestechnologies, such as automatedsequencing, mass spectrometryproteomics, transcriptomics,proteomics and metabolomicsapproaches coupled with advancedcomputational approaches to capturinginformation about an organism on aglobal scale to analyse and build apredictive model. The use of micro-organisms or higher cells in tissueculture genetically engineered tomonitor a specific biological activity hasmade it possible to screen several

thousands of compounds for thedesired drug properties. This in turnhas generated a wealth of geneticinformation on basic DNA, protein, andfunctional informational resourcesavailable worldwide. Some of thesecompounds will inevitably haveactivities that are toxic or affect animalsand humans in harmful ways. Accessto this knowledge would allow rapididentification of potentially dangerousagents.

vii. Directed Drug Design: Rational drugdesign uses structural knowledge of thedrug targets to design novel chemicalcompounds that bind to selected siteson the surface of target molecules ormimic the structure of the targetmolecule, thereby competing for areceptor molecule’s binding site(s). Thistechnique is more specific thancombinatorial chemistry in that it allowsthe scientist to target a desired site andfunction, and design a drug withparticular properties rather than screenthrough a large library of compoundslooking for those properties.

viii. Synthetic Biology: The systemincorporates use of technologies in DNAsynthesis, bioinformatics, and reversegenetics in order to fabricate usefulmicrobes and learn about theunderlying principles of cellular functionby reducing biological systems to theirsimplest components and by creatingmodels of genetic circuits. Syntheticbiology allows researchers to develop aregistry of biological parts andessentially create tiny programmablecomputers from living organisms. Re-engineered bacterial proteins whentagged with TNT are able to detectchemical or biological agent signaturesor clean up environmental pollutants.The technology would also allow

July-Dec 2011 15

creating new or existing pathogens formalicious purposes.

viii. DNA Shuffling: DNA shufflinginvolves in vitro homologousrecombination of genes by randomfragmentation and polymerase chainreaction reassembly and amplificationto evolve genes and novel proteins withnovel or improved functions. It allowsgeneration of novel proteins, viruses,bacteria and other organisms in a cost-effective manner and in a fraction of thetime required with classical breeding.This technology has been extended toproduction of small-moleculepharmaceuticals, pharmaceuticalproteins, gene therapy vehicles andtransgenes, bacterial and viral vaccinesand laboratory animals. On the obverseside, the technology is open for adoptionto generate potentially lethal virusesand bacteria.

ix. Artificial synthesis of viruses:Small viruses are being synthesized,based on availability of genetic code.Thus, a complete, fully functioning poliovirus was synthesized in 2002 by agroup of American researchers.Constructing viruses that are difficultto obtain remains a possibility as longas the genetic code is known. For largerviruses, technologies like PolymeraseAssembly Multiplexing using microchiparrays are being standardized. For stilllarger viruses like smallpox,technologies are being tried tointroduce DNA changes into thegenome of other family members ofpoxviruses, which may lead to a changein the host range of these viruses toinclude humans. These developmentsmay be disturbing: the structure ofviruses is extremely simple comparedto bacteria, and immunity – eithernatural or conferred through

vaccination – has over the yearsdisappeared in the human population.New technologies may also be able tobuild more complex viruses is duecourse of time.

x. RNA interference (RNAi): RNAitechnology has the potential to suppresscellular production of certain proteinsin the physiological processes to haltundesirable processes or stimulatedesirable ones of importance intherapeutic use. Efforts are being madeto develop this tool to target disease-causing genes and proteins that areinaccessible to conventional drugs.Short, single-stranded nucleic acids(aptamers) and protein-DNA chimeras(tadpoles) have high binding affinityand are being explored in animalmodels for their potential to be used inthe inhibition of blood clot formation andtreatment of age-related oculardegenerative changes. Theeffectiveness of small interfering RNA(siRNA) as antiviral has beendemonstrated in vivo for Ebola virusinfection of primates. RNAi technologyalso has major implications in thefunctioning of the mammalian cells.Studies have demonstrated the role ofsiRNA in animals’ regulation of geneexpression by micro-RNA molecules(miRNA), which interact with cellularRNAs to suppress certain proteins andsilence the expression of target genes.siRNA are otherwise also sufficientlyactive to function as potent antiviralagents to modulate gene expression inadult animals.

In plants, RNAi is commonly being used asantiviral defence mechanism. siRNAmolecules, initially identified in plants, areable to promote the sequence-specificdegradation of messenger RNAs and aretherefore able to suppress gene expression.


Theoretically, the approach of using RNAitechnology has wide implications fordeveloping therapeutics for a number ofdiseases and as a research tool in functionalgenomics. The technology also allows long-term, efficient silencing of an allele thatsegregates with ethnicity. Silencing of genesthat function in innate immunity could leadto conditions that mimic, at least superficially,natural disease. The whole approach of RNAidefines a significant change in the utility ofgenetic weapons technology. RNAi wouldhave dual-use implications. New therapeuticoptions for treating cancer and otherdiseases could also lead to manipulating geneexpression to do harm.

Human Genome Project (HGP)

HGP, completed in 2003, discovered all theestimated 20,000-25,000 human genes andmakes them accessible for further biologicalstudy. It also determined the completesequence of the three billion DNA subunitsbases in the human genome. The technologyand resources generated by the project andrelated genomics research have alreadycreated a major impact on research acrossthe life sciences. The potential for commercialdevelopment of genomics research presentsa wealth of opportunities, which are nowbeing exploited.

Information generated by HGP has wideapplications in biomedical research leadingto improved diagnosis of diseases, drugdesign, pharmacogenomics, gene therapy,etc. Microbial genomics research has led tosequence of bacteria useful in energyproduction, environmental remediation,toxic waste reduction, and industrialprocessing. Other applications are in theareas of environment risk assessment forindividuals from toxic materials, DNAforensic sciences including fingerprinting,pollutants, breeds, etc. Genomic studies are

also directed towards study of evolution,migration and mutation with age.Understanding plant and animal genomes willhelp in studies of disease patterns in plantsand animals, disease-resistant plants andanimals, reduced management costs, andbetter, nutritious and pesticide-free foods.

However, HGP has also raised seriousconcerns. Elucidation of the structure ofhuman DNA and the functioning andregulation of genes makes it possible toidentify markers which determine the racialand ethnic differences between people andtarget the genetic makeup and ethnicity ofspecific groups of people. A study in the USon the Y-chromosome and mitochondrialDNA in populations from different regionshas suggested that the data generated couldbe used for developing methods toselectively disturb cellular respiration andenergy exchange, sexual reproduction and anumber of other important functionsconnected with the Y-chromosome.

Data analysis of the human genome showedthat hundreds and even thousands ofsequences obtained could serve as targetsfor selective BW based on the difference infrequency of genetic markers between racesand difference in the frequency ofpolymorphisms. A recent study in Taiwanhas discovered that Severe AcuteRespiratory Syndrome (SARS) can beassociated with specific genetic profiles.

Genomics and Proteomics

Genomics

After completion of the human genome andrat sequences in HGP, there have beendramatic advances in the sequencing ofmammalian genomes. Several hundredeukaryotic genome sequencing projects areunderway. Technology developments,

July-Dec 2011 17

including capillary sequencing machines andhigh-density overlapping oligonucleotidechips, allow rapid re-sequencing of genomes.Genome sequences are now available forhundreds of pathogens, especially bacterialand viral pathogens of public healthimportance. The technology is being used tostudy the extent of sequence variation thatexists within a species. Genome sequencingof pathogens using HTP screening hashelped in better understanding of antibioticresistance and emerging and re-emergingbacterial and viral diseases.

The International HapMap Project, initiatedin 2002, is a multi-country effort to identifyand catalogue genetic similarities anddifferences in human beings and a majoreffort toward identifying genes affectinghealth, disease, and individual responses todrugs and environmental factors.Information generated under the projectwould be available in the public domain andcould be exploited to target specific groupswith harmful agents. Identifying populationsmost vulnerable to certain diseases alsomakes them vulnerable to isolation aspotential targets.

Use of advanced sequencing technologies hasalso led to mapping of the molecularsignatures of the bioregulatory systems ofthe body and how these regulatory pathwaysrespond to disease-induced disturbances.The information, which is critical as targetfor therapeutic and preventive interventionor manipulation, can also be used for a novelbiological attack. Significant advances havealso been made in genomic medicine, wherepatient-tailored treatment of diseases isprescribed based on analysis of his/hergenetic makeup.

Proteomics

The proteome is traditionally studiedthrough a combination of gel electrophoresis

and mass spectrometry. Use of HTPautomated technologies and fractionationstrategies coupled with mass spectrometryand gel separations has made it possible todetect low levels of proteins or sub-groupsof proteins and analyse protein mixtures.Proteomics can differentiate isolates orstrains and greatly enhances our knowledgeof host-pathogen interactions, protein-protein interactions, host response toinfection and pathogenesis. Proteomics alsohas applications in identification of candidatesfor diagnosis, therapy, detection systems andvaccines; this knowledge could be exploitedfor non-peaceful purposes.

In comparative proteomics, proteins fromdifferent growth conditions, strains or speciescan be labelled and differentiated using massspectrometry to identify proteins having arole in virulence, interaction with the hostor the environment, and antibioticresistance. Identified proteins can be usedas vaccine candidates or targets fortherapeutics or diagnosis. In addition,identifying proteins expressed under a widevariety of conditions can lead to theidentification of targets for detectionsystems.

The ‘immunome’: The study of immuno-dominant proteins which trigger immuneresponse to infection and that of theinteraction of antibodies and antigens canlead to an understanding of the humoralimmune response and identification ofantigenic determinants for inclusion in futurevaccines. The introduction of protein arraysenables the rapid analysis of hundreds ofproteins in parallel. These techniques arebeing used to detect and diagnose biomarkersas well as possible vaccine candidates.

Synthetic biology: In most cases, with theexception of RNA viruses, DNA acts as ablueprint producing all the essentialelements required for a functional biological


system. Technological gains in chemical DNAsynthesis have facilitated synthesis of DNAconstructs, which has made de novosynthesis of some small viruses a reality.Efforts are being made to synthesize largeviruses’ constructs and chemical synthesisof bacterial genomes.

Protein expression and productiontechnologies: Progress in rDNA technologyhas allowed cloning directly into expressionvectors and high-fidelity easy transfer ofgenes between expression vectors. This hasdecreased the time and efforts required toclone a target gene and reduce the level ofexpertise required. Advances in vectors andplasmids to enhance the expression of solubleand problematic proteins have raised thepotential to generate significant quantities ofa protein to be produced from syntheticDNA. Expression systems are commerciallyavailable for production of proteins withinbacteria, yeast, plants, filamentous fungi,insect and mammalian cells.

Synthetic biology has allowed constructionof functional genetic circuits in cells andmicro-organisms, merging engineeringapproaches with biology. Sets ofstandardized genetic building blocks aredeveloped and suitably assembled toperform specific functions such as detectionof toxic chemicals, explosives and biologicalagents, disease diagnosis and therapeuticintervention, production of pharmaceuticals,bioremediation of pollutants, energygeneration, etc.

Chemical DNA synthesis facilitates efficientand cost-effective production of naturalproducts with potential uses in therapeuticsor for other beneficial purposes. Thetechnology is of particular benefit especiallywhen analysing proteins from dangerousorganisms, in that the gene can be chemicallysynthesized, and then cloned into, expressed

in and purified from a suitable host cellwithout the need to handle the originalorganism. This may preclude the need forcontainment facilities and proceduresnormally required for work on pathogens.But this technology has the potential formisuse, since exotic pathogens are exploitedwithout having the necessary infrastructure.

The rapidly developing field of syntheticbiology also has the potential to create risksfor society, due to either unintentionalconsequences for health or the environmentor deliberate misuse.

Advances in recombinant technology haveled to increasing focus on the production ofproteins from pathogenic hosts in micro-organisms which are more easily and safelyhandled on a large scale. High containmentfacilities, cost and skilled labour make it adistinct possibility in reality. An example isa recombinant protective antigen as the basisof a new-generation anthrax vaccine.

Gene Therapy

Gene therapy uses healthy genes to treat orprevent disease by inserting a normal geneinto the genome to replace an abnormal,disease-causing gene. It typically uses acarrier molecule or vector, such as aharmless virus, to deliver the healthy geneto the target cell. This technology is also usedto introduce new genetic material into thecells of individuals with the specific targetreceptors or to inhibit the expression ofendogenous genes. The technique, though inan experimental state and yet beingstandardized, has major potential benefits forhuman and animal health in the treatmentof genetic diseases and in the modulation ofgene expression such as suppression ofinappropriate immune reactions. Thesilencing of alleles associated with ethnicitynow appears theoretically possible.

July-Dec 2011 19

Studies however have also reported setbacksin the development of vectors for deliveryof such therapy. Repeated application of highdoses of adenovirus vectors is apprehendedto lead to immuno-pathology; lentivirus/retrovirus vectors may also be associatedwith cancer-causing effects. Safetyconsiderations also have the potential formisuse, providing the opportunity to achievelong-term expression of a deleterious genein a target population.

Development of affinity media for bothlaboratory- and manufacturing-scalepurification of affinity-tagged protein resultsin high yields of a specific product. Newsystems are now available for laboratory-scale automated purification of severalproteins simultaneously.

Continuing progress in processing equipmentfor the pharmaceutical and biotechnologyindustries has led to the emergence ofportable bioreactors featuring disposablecontact materials that eliminate cleaning,sterilization and validation and can easily beused for virus production, monoclonalantibody production, cell culture andproduction of human therapeutics. But thesedevelopments are potentially open formisuse. Successful protein expression andproduction strategies, including portablesystems, can facilitate dual use: benefits tothe pharmaceutical and biotechnologyindustries as well as potential BW production.Transgenic plants could be engineered toproduce large quantities of bio-regulatoryproteins or toxins, which could be extractedfrom plant cells or used directly as BWagents. Being natural bioreactors, theyeliminate the need for much sophisticatedequipment for producing them in largeamounts.

Systems Biology

Systems biology or integrative biologyinvolves the application of systems – andsignal-oriented approaches – tounderstanding inter- and intracellulardynamic processes. Tools that could be usedto manipulate complex biological systemsinclude gene silencing, novel bindingreagents like nucleic acid, peptide aptamers,engineered antibodies, immune modulators,etc. Advanced HTP tools are used to studythe complex interactions involving networksof molecules, including DNA, RNA andproteins to analyse cellular regulatorynetworks and pathways and genomic andproteomic setup. These tools have a greatimpact in improving the predictive accuracyof models of biological systems, which allowsphysicians better management of preventiveand therapeutic measures based ongenotypic and phenotypic makeup ofindividuals. The same advances could alsomake it easier to identify ways to maliciouslymanipulate biological systems.

Micro-fluidics and micro-fabricationtechnologies have been used in manipulationof a wide variety of processes at miniaturizedscales using automation. These technologiesfind application in DNA analysis,immunoassays, cell analysis andmeasurements of enzyme activity and havegreatly enhanced the diagnostic ability ofdisease outbreaks. Such technologies areapplicable in both naturally occurring anddeliberately created conditions and open theroad to identify ways to maliciouslymanipulate biological systems, thusintroducing novel aspects of future bio-defence and bio-threat agents.


Host-pathogen Relationship

Microbial genome sequencing programmeshave led to better understanding of thepathogenicity and virulence factorscontained in the genetic makeup of micro-organisms. They have greatly improved theknowledge of how several micro-organismseffect pathogenesis through characterizationof their discovered virulence factors. Thereis increasing awareness that many of thesevirulence factors act in concert with oneanother and with host factors.

There has also been an increase in the studiesof the response of the host to infection inorder to fully characterize the virulence ofmicro-organisms. Although DNA micro-arrays have been used to study the geneexpression profiles of pathogens, there hasrecently been a substantial increase intranscriptional profiling of the host inresponse to infections with pathogens.Experiments that measure the hosttranscriptional response to a pathogenicstrain, relative to an attenuated strain thatlacks a key virulence determinant, provideknowledge on how these interactionsdevelop into pathogenesis. This increase inknowledge in the host’s role in pathogenesisand, consequently, an understanding ofmechanisms of immune protection maypotentially open an avenue for misusethrough the development of molecules forweakening the immune response to specificpathogens.

Vaccines and Therapies

Market requirement of vaccines andbiological agents has grown tremendously.In India, the requirement of therapeutics hasregistered an annual increase of between 15and 20 per cent. Global research continuestowards improvement and development ofnew vaccines and technologies. New micro-

organisms, new molecules, carrier systemsand delivery modes are being adopted usingnew principals to improve the efficacy ofbiological materials. Vaccines and diagnosticsare available for almost all the known diseaseconditions. There is an equal interest amongnations to develop or acquire vaccines andbiological agents for defence purposes sincethese show possibilities of discovery ofcompounds with potential for misuse.

Significant advances in technologies,accompanied by sophistication in engineeringprocesses, have helped in the diagnosis ofand development of antiviral drugs,especially reverse transcriptase inhibitors,DNA polymerase inhibitors or proteaseinhibitors for treatment of a range ofinfectious and non-infectious disease likeHIV, hepatitis B and C and malaria, influenzaviruses H1N5, H1N1, etc. Vaccines and anti-viral drugs are also being developed ofdefence interest, including anthrax, poxvirusinfections, etc. As we have seen earlier,recombinant and gene technologies have alsobeen used to develop DNA vaccines and sub-unit vaccines and artificially produce smallviruses and other oligo-nucleotides.

The use of phage/ribosomal displaytechnologies, combinatorial chemistry,molecular modelling and HTP screens hashelped in the discovery and design ofpotential therapeutic peptides. Specificpeptides for a particular cell surface receptorbring about an intracellular effect on a targetcell and/or a physiological change in thetarget organism. Some of these peptides areincreasingly in use to target specific markersin oncologic conditions. Immuno-modulatorssuch as cytokines and non-specific immunestimulators strengthen the immune defencesystem to protect against a range ofpathogens. Commercial-scale synthesis ofpeptides can also provide significantquantities of desired pathogens produced in

July-Dec 2011 21

recombinant micro-organisms or intransgenic plants or animals.

New antiviral drugs have been developedusing reverse transcriptase inhibitors likeVIREAD (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) fortreatment of HIV, and DNA polymeraseinhibitors like HEPSERA (adefovir dipivoxil)to arrest replication of the virus responsiblefor chronic hepatitis B.

Delivery of sufficient quantities to theappropriate target cells or tissues across theblood/brain barrier is a significant challengeto the development of therapeutic peptides.Vaccine delivery systems using new aerosolgenerating devices and improved adjuvant,live vectors and micro-encapsulationtechnologies are being developedcommercially for effective delivery oftherapeutics. Therapeutic use of targetedmonoclonal or polyclonal antibodies hasproved useful to prevent and treat virus-induced diseases.

Penetration enhancers with ability topenetrate the skin or mucous membranesto improve the absorption of medicinal drugsalso lower the threshold at which micro-organisms or toxins become harmful. Thepotential benefits of advances in technologyfor delivery of drugs and vaccines also raisethe potential for misuse, such as making newroutes for the delivery of BW, especiallyimmune modulators and immunestimulators to attack the immune system.Such methods could also result in theintentional or unexpected discovery ofcompounds with potential for misuse.

Bio-regulators

Bio-regulators or Physiologically ActiveMaterials (PMNs) are naturally occurringsubstances present in very lowconcentrations in the body. They conduct

biological activity that regulates andcoordinates a number of physiologicalprocesses, including cardiovascular function,respiratory system, nervous system andimmunity. Bio-regulators include hormones,signal molecules, enzymes and inflammatorymediators. Knowledge in this field has madeit possible therapeutically to intervene inorder to boost desirable processes or slowdown harmful ones. Advances in the areasof life science research on bio-regulation ofphysiological functions has led tocharacterization of bio-regulators and thesearch for promising compounds forpharmaceuticals. There has been atremendous increase in the identification ofpeptides, both toxins and bio-regulators thatcontrol biological processes. An excess ofcertain regulators is found to lead to sleepdisturbance and behavioural changes.Administering other regulators will lead toautoimmune reactions or, because they canaffect blood pressure or cellular ionhomeostasis, to heart rhythm disturbances,organ failure, paralysis, coma and death.

PMNs are aimed specifically at the cells toensure the first line of antiviral and anti-tumorogenic protection. Studies have alsobeen directed at explaining interactions indifferent receptor systems and determiningnew targets connected with the disturbanceof physiological concentrations ofendogenous PMNs.

The possibility to manipulate toxins or bio-regulators or to produce them in pure formin large quantities opens up new perspectivesthat have to be considered with implicationsfor BTWC. Bio-regulators are considered topose a serious threat of being used for illicitpurposes due to the increased understandingof inter- and intra-cellular processes andcontrol of central biological processes ofmammalian systems, including human.


Production Biotechnology

Industrial application of biotechnology forlarge-scale production of micro-organismsand cell products has increasedtremendously. The new techniques simplifythe large-scale production of all kinds of bio-engineered products and organisms in moremodest sized plants at rapid speed and cost-effectiveness. This has been beneficial fromthe point of view of public health, food andagriculture, but it has also increased thepotential of misuse for developing and large-scale production of potential agents to beused as BW.

Genetic modification of micro-organisms orplants has helped overproduction of proteinsand made the fusion of proteins economical,efficient and quicker. Heterologousexpression systems and associatedproduction technologies using yeasts,bacteria and fungi are engineered to producerecombinant proteins and therapeuticcompounds in bulk scale for legitimatecommercial purposes. Optimization of thesetechnologies is equally applicable in large-scale expression and production of proteinsand toxins suitable to be used as BW, suchas botulinum. Technologies have beenoptimized for production of live attenuatedvaccine for several bacterial and viralpathogens having key virulence factorsremoved, either through serial passage orthrough targeted genetic manipulation. Theproduction technology required to producea live attenuated anthrax vaccine is identicalto that required to produce live virulentanthrax agent in bulk.

Toxin Production

Worldwide consumption of toxins for medicaltherapy and scientific research has reacheda level of hundreds of grams and kilogramsper year, and the projected future growth of

toxin therapies will require tens to hundredsof kilograms of material annually. It isextremely difficult to distinguish betweenproduction of medical or militarily usefulquantities.

The major impact of genetic engineeringrelevant to BTWC is the possibility of large-scale production of toxins. Improvements inbiotechnology have led to the production ofpotent toxins, which until now were availableonly in minute quantities and only uponisolation from immense amounts of naturalbiological materials. These toxins can now beproduced in kilogram quantities within ashort time with minimum cost, which couldbe of military significance.

Use of rDNA techniques permits the transferof genetic material between widely divergentspecies. The increase in knowledge of manyof the pathogenic species of micro-organisms, and knowledge of toxins andother biological agents and the continuingpace of developments in civil biotechnologyareas, has increased the possibilities forproduction and hostile use of biologicalagents affecting the normal environmentaround the human being.

Improvements in technologies have helpedproduction in significant quantities ofrecombinant animal toxins that are difficultto isolate from a natural source. Thetechnologies as well as the quantitiesproduced have obvious implications as BWagents. Also, information gained in studieson the utility of toxin sub-units in targetingtherapeutic agents to specific cells has thepotential to be exploited for targetingharmful agents.

Much interest these days has been generatedin identification and purification of toxinsfrom marine resources having therapeuticpotential. Though isolated in smallquantities, they have already been shown to

July-Dec 2011 23

have potential of exploitation for generatingsignificant amounts of bioactive substancesof both therapeutic and harmful effects.Recently a bioactive peptide, a syntheticconotoxin compound produced by conesnails, has been licensed for use in thetreatment of severe chronic pain.

Botulinum toxin is a therapeutic for a numberof disease conditions. The catalytically activeand toxic A-subunit portion of these toxinsconjugated with antibodies raised againstspecific antigens found on the surface oftumour cells is used for site-directed anti-cancer therapy. B-subunit toxins are beingexploited to study intracellular deliverymechanisms like delivery of therapeuticagents to neural cells for the treatment ofneural dysfunctions. It is also well knownthat botulinum toxin is a potential bio-agentfor military use.

The potential benefits of advances intechnology and delivery of drugs andvaccines also raise the possibilities of misuse,to improve delivery systems for BW agents,especially immuno-modulators andimmuno-stimulators for attack of theimmune system.

Computational Biology andBioinformatics

Bioinformatics is the application of large-scale data analysis techniques to the lifesciences, encompassing such areas as biologyand medicine, computer science, statistics,mathematics and physics. Bioinformatics hasbecome an essential component of modernbiology in academic, government andindustry research sectors since a lot ofbiological data are being generated usingtechniques of genome sequencing,proteomics and HTP data collection. Tointerpret and utilize these data,bioinformatics has continued to develop in

parallel, supported by advances in computertechnology and the accessibility of data andtools via the internet and on computers.Bioinformatics is working with HTPtechnologies to make it easier to create novelstructures and substances from biomaterialsand is creating new scientific and commercialopportunities.

Complete genomes of an increasing numberof organisms have been sequenced andcharacterized. Genebank public repositorycontaining records of organisms’ geneticcontent doubles in size every month.Together with computational biology,bioinformatics has made it possible to predictproperties and complete metabolic pathwaysfrom sequence information generated fromthe genetic material isolated from differentenvironments. Bioinformatics is also beingused in the analysis and modelling ofpathogens, understanding of theirpathogenicity and virulence, and in the studyof host-pathogen relationship vis-à-visantibiotics. Bioinformatics is also being usedsuccessfully to produce predictions forvaccine candidates, virulence factors, drugtargets and novel therapeutics. Using thegenetic information, compounds have beenprepared in the laboratory which mimic thenatural organisms. The technicaldevelopments in chemistry have made itpossible to isolate and characterizecompounds from very complexenvironments even when present in verylow amounts. These advances could also bemisused in the development of pathogenstrains with increased virulence or drugresistance, or with improved stability toassist survival within the environment. Thecomplementarities and synergy oftechnologies used in biotechnology,nanotechnology and information technologyare converging in ways that will enable lifeprocesses to be manipulated, with far-


reaching implications and great potential fornefarious and disastrous outcomes.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnologies are defined to includedesigning, characterization, production andapplication of structures, devices andsystems by controlling the shape and size ofmaterials at nanometre scale. Advances inthe ability to produce and characterizematerials at nano-scale have resulted inmaterials with novel and useful propertieshaving great potential to bring benefits tomany areas of research and application. Thistechnology combines biotechnology,synthetic biology and information technologyto design molecular structures capable ofperforming a wide range of functions.

Application of nanotechnologies in materialsand technologies, electronics and micro-systems and clean technologies has alreadybenefited day-to-day requirements. In thelife sciences and medicines, nanotechnologyhas wide applications in bio-nano materials,bio-sensors, biomarkers and nano-particles,cancer diagnostics, imaging and treatment,drug delivery and therapeutics, includinggene therapy and nano-medicine. A primeexample of the use of nano-particle scienceis for creation of novel and highly efficientdelivery systems for difficult-to-deliverbiologically active compounds.

Nano-biotechnology has particular promisein disease diagnosis, including nano-particlescapable of targeting specific diseased cells,containing both therapeutic agents and asensor that regulates their release into thecell. Nanotechnology thus has directapplication to drug discovery to study drug-receptor interactions at the single moleculelevel. Other applications include productionof materials and devices such as scaffolds forcell and tissue engineering, and sensors thatcan be used for monitoring aspects of human

health. Micro-sensors or implants made ofbiological material are smaller and moreeffective than current implants. Currentapplications also focus on using custom nano-scale materials for in vivo applications suchas molecular imaging and detection,reporters for therapy efficacy determination,multifunctional therapeutics, diseaseprevention and control. As a growth industrynanotechnology commercially is expected toeventually put the pharmaceutical marketin the shade. Production, delivery, andpackaging technologies that allow biologicalsystems to be manipulated in a defined,deliberate manner are evolving very quicklyto serve the pharmaceutical, agricultural andhealthcare fields. Some of these technologieshave not been traditionally viewed as havingrelevance to future biological threats.

The rapid expansion of nanotechnology,however, has also raised new challenges inthe safety, regulatory and ethical domainsthat will require wider consideration.Interactions between nano-particles andliving cells and material provide for thesynthesis of novel substances, which possessgreater toxicity and irreversibility of actionthan any identified previously. This abilityof nano-particles to easily pass throughhuman biological barriers when combinedwith qualitatively new toxicologicalproperties, and its irreversibleconsequences, could lead to the creation of anew class of physiologically active materialsthat could become the basis for developing anew type of lethal BW. For emergingtechnologies in this field with potential fordevelopment of novel or enhanced biologicalagents with improved delivery methods, itis difficult to predict the outcome of manyresearch areas and thus the impact onpotential BW applications.

That nanotechnology has the potential todeliver toxic agents maliciously is evidencedby the fact that the European Commission

July-Dec 2011 25

has published a Nanotechnology Action Planand the OECD (Organization for EconomicCooperation and Development) is working topromote international cooperation in thehealth and environmental safety-relatedaspects of manufactured nano-materials.Various national, regional and internationalstakeholders are also interacting with eachother in the same direction.

Polymers

Polymers are substances with a highmolecular mass composed of a large numberof repeating units (monomers). Biologicalmacromolecules or natural polymers includecarbohydrates, starch, cellulose andglycogen and chitin. Advances in technologyhave helped in commercial development ofsynthetic polymers from petroleum productslike polyethylene and nylon. Syntheticpolymers made out of glycolic and lactic acidsand other biodegradable materials haveshown properties of stimulus responsivenessto the environment and can be used for avariety of purposes related to biotechnologyand biomedicine. Known as smart polymers,they can detect even slight changes in theirenvironment. Smart polymers have been inincreasing use in the areas of diagnostics,biosensors, pollutant detection, foodcontaminants, etc. Smart polymers areknown to be among the best drug deliverysystems, as smart polymer matrices releasedrugs by a chemical or physiologicalstructure-altering reaction, oftena hydrolysis reaction resulting in cleavage ofbonds and release of drug as the matrixbreaks down into biodegradablecomponents.

Some recent smart polymer applicationsinclude use of molecular imprinted polymersin combination with peptides in diagnosis ofmycotoxins, use of nucleic acid biosensors

using polymer transducers for rapiddetection and identification of biologicalpathogens, and use of micro-fluidic chips incombination with monolithic porouspolymers for extracting biological andchemical toxins from air, soil and watersamples.

Drug Delivery

A number of new matrices have beenidentified as carriers for prolonged andsustained delivery of drugs andpharmaceuticals. At the same time, routesof administration of drugs and vaccinesensure maliciously target delivery to infestedareas. Advances made in areas like drugdesign, synthetic biology, systems biology,aerosol technology, nanotechnology, micro-encapsulation, etc. have advanced theknowledge for targeted delivery of drugs buthave also provided insights to systemsrequired for nefarious use: these need to beassessed.

Nano-emulsion technologies: Significantprogress has been made recently in the useof large porous particles (LPP) for deliveryof drugs through adsorption in the lungs. LPPare considerably larger than the sizeregarded as optimal for inhalation and deepdeposition. But due to their low density,LPPs are inhaled and the drugs are deliveredefficiently. The LPPs’ large surface area, inthe size range of 25 to several hundred nano-metres, can be used to carry a large numberof small particles. The concept is frequentlyused to coat LPPs with nano-particlescarrying drugs for optimized aerosol delivery.On the obverse side, these techniques couldpotentially be used to develop highly efficientaerosol delivery systems for micro-organisms (viruses and possibly also smallbacteria), toxins or chemical compounds forBW purposes.


Micro-encapsulation

Micro-encapsulation entails prolonging theshelf life of micro-organisms or proteins inthe body or the environment by coating orenclosing them in a biopolymer capsule.Minuscule solid particles, liquid droplets orgas bubbles are enveloped in protectivecoating comprising of any of a number ofcompounds like organic polymer,hydrocolloid, sugar, wax, fat, metal orinorganic oxide. The coating protects againsttheir evaporation, oxidation andcontamination, thus ensuring that they arereleased over a longer period of time. Thetechnique has application in controlled anddelayed drug delivery, including micro-encapsulated proteins and peptides andengineered and live cells for therapeuticpurposes. Considerable knowledge toachieve these aims efficiently has beengenerated. Micro-encapsulation of drugs hasbeen exploited to carry micro-organisms toselectively target viruses or bacteria asvectors for delivery of genes and proteinsand as viral delivery vectors to insert genesinto chromosomal DNA. At the same time,the knowledge generated helps in theharmful spread of micro-encapsulatedpeptides, proteins including toxins andbioregulators, and micro-organisms whileavoiding environmental exposure toultraviolet light and other oxidative stresses.

Aerosol Technology

Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceuticalindustry is constantly looking for newtechnologies for administration oftherapeutic compounds to treat patientsusing different vehicular routes. Aerosoltechnology is among the widely accepteddelivery vehicles to deliver biologically activeorganisms or compounds, includingtherapeutic molecules, to target structures.

New advances in the field of aerosolizationinclude micro-encapsulation. Differentdelivery vehicles for micro-encapsulationand sustained release of particles have alsobeen used, based on the particle size of theaerosolized substance and its ability to bedelivered directly into the bloodstream.Aerosolization provides efficient andregulated delivery of therapeutics directlyto the target. Potential delivery platformsalso include the use of bacterial plasmids orviral vectors for cloning the genes encodingbio-regulators, transgenic insects forproduction and inoculation, nano-scaledelivery systems, and liposome orbiodegradable micro-spheres for controlledrelease. Examples are propellant metered-dose inhalers, dry-powder inhalers, andnebulizers that are frequently used to deliverdrugs directly to the lungs and circulatorysystem in asthma patients. Drug particlesused in these technologies provide theenormous adsorptive surface of the lungs toenhance their effectiveness. Aerosol-basedano-emulsion technology is also being usedto deliver insulin directly through nasalabsorption. Nevertheless, all thesetechnologies also raise concerns about thedelivery of bio-regulators and other toxicsubstances through use of aerosoltechnology.

Diagnostic Technologies

Advances in diagnostic technologies involveequipment and materials that help detectwith more precision, accuracy and speedminute quantities of pathogens or geneticmakeup having the highest specificity andsensitivity for any disease conditions,including viral and bacterial infections. Rapidand specific detection of minute quantitiesof DNA has been achieved using reversetranscriptase polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR), a variant of polymerase chain

July-Dec 2011 27

reaction used in generation of many copiesof a DNA sequence. A number of gene probesystems for array have been developedalong with strategies to overcome problemsof non-specific hybridization, including awide range of fluorescent detectionmolecules. Easy-to-use hand-held deviceshave been developed commercially for rapiddiagnosis and environmental sampling.

Antibody-based technologies have beendeveloped and are commercially available fordiagnosis of almost all disease conditions,including viral, bacterial and parasiticinfections. Diagnostics have been developedusing antibodies/antigens labelled withenzymes, isotopes and fluorescence toachieve detection by colour assays,fluorescence or luminescence. Antibody-based biosensors are also being used fordisease detection and environmentalmonitoring.

Advances in antibody-based productiontechnologies use matured hybridoma celllines. Monoclonal antibodies – murine-derived, chimeric and humanized – havebeen developed. Advances in phage displaytechnologies allow production of single-chainantibody systems that are more robust andcapable of operating in harsherenvironments and over greater temperatureranges than conventional antibodies. Othertechnologies, including oligosaccharide andarray-based chips for carbohydratedetection, nano-particles including goldnano-particles being used as matrix indetection technologies for biological agentsand the presence of toxins, optical biosensorsfor real-time detection and identification ofairborne antigen, bioluminescencetechniques for generic detection and Dip-stick technologies based on lateral flowdevices offer different methods of detectionand identification. New technologies of micro-fluidics and micro-fabrication entail a wide

variety of processes and manipulationscarried out at miniaturized scales, usuallythrough automation. Micro-fluidic or “lab-on-a-chip” technology is potentially useful inpoint-of-care diagnostics, including DNAanalysis, immunoassays, cell analysis andenzyme activity measurements.Sophisticated, miniaturized diagnosticsystems have immense ability to identify andrespond to disease outbreaks, whethernaturally occurring or deliberately caused.

Animal Healthcare

Initiatives have been taken worldwide,through multi-pronged approaches, forimprovement of animal health throughprogrammes in the areas of diagnosis ofexotic diseases like West Nile Fever (WN),salmonellosis, PPR, blue-tongue virus,bovine tuberculosis, etc. and vaccinedevelopment for foot-and-mouth disease(FMD), infectious bovine rhinotracheites(IBR), rabies, anthrax, new castle disease,etc. Major initiatives have also been takenin areas of genomic analysis, molecularcharacterization including sequencing,genetic mapping, expressed sequence tags,comparative sequence analysis, etc.

Outbreaks of infectious diseases in animalshave regularly been connected with terroristactivities or offensive BW programmes.Examples include: bird influenza in 2004 and2005, the 2003 epidemic of atypicalpneumonia, and the 2001 outbreak of FMD.Recent epidemics of SARS, Avian Influenza,Swine flu, and FMD outbreak in the UK havenecessitated countries to develop their ownveterinary surveillance strategy and policiesand operational guidelines for control andmanagement of outbreaks of exotic animaldiseases, including standardization oflaboratory technologies for detection ofzoonotic diseases of public healthimportance. The veterinary surveillance


strategy also records patterns of emergingdiseases and alterations in endemic diseases.

The knowledge gained in development ofvaccines and other intervention strategiesfor safeguard of animal health and themagnitude and effects of global animal andzoonotic disease outbreaks has raised publicawareness further, as also the potential foruse of such agents for hostile purposes.Genetic alteration or modified vaccineswould make such outbreaks more difficultto manage. Safeguard of animal and publichealth and surveillance and management ofexotic diseases would need to be based ondifferentiation of natural, accidental ordeliberate release of biological agents into theenvironment.

Plant Pests and Diseases

Agri-biotechnology has been growingsteadily despite controversies related to“transgenics”. The spectrum ofbiotechnology applications in agricultureincludes generation of improved crops;microbes; use of molecular markers to taggenes of interest; accelerating of breedingthrough marker-assisted selection;fingerprinting of cultivars; DNA-baseddiagnostics for pests/pathogens of crops; andassessment and monitoring of biodiversity.The majority of commercially availablegenetically modified (GM) crops haveagronomic advantages like herbicidetolerance or insect resistance. Strategicresearch areas include expression profile;functional validation; signal transduction;transgenic; and genetic enhancement. Butthe use of modern technologies to improvethe quality and quantity of farm products aswell as food products raises possibilities alsofor modifications leading to agro-terroristactivities. Farms and food supply remainamong the most exposed targets, andimpossible to guard adequately.

Climate changes and human populationgrowth are expected to induce increased pestand disease problems, particularly due toinvasive organisms. The best efforts at plantprotection are also not able to constraindevelopment of alien pests and diseases.Research in biological pest control hasresulted in increased interest in thedevelopment of more refined dispersalmodels for biological aerosols. At the sametime, the knowledge gained on persistenceand ecological effects when releasinggenetically modified organisms would also beof value while considering the effects ofreleasing BW agents in the environment. Byusing genetic engineering it may also bepossible to programme the survival of areleased bacterial population. Microbialpathogens could also be geneticallyengineered to maximize infectivity andpathogenicity. Likewise, they could bemodified to increase or decrease theirenvironmental stability and persistency,thereby cancelling out vaccines and sero-diagnostic techniques.

Research in biological pest control hasresulted in increased interest in thedevelopment of more refined dispersalmodels for biological aerosols. The knowledgegained on persistence and ecological effectswhen releasing genetically modifiedorganisms would also be of value whileconsidering the effects of releasing BW agentsin the environment. With geneticengineering it may also be possible toprogramme the survival of a releasedbacterial population. Knowledge gained in thearea of bio-pesticides could in principle bemisused by an aggressor intending to attackcrops. Some aspects of the disseminationtechnology would also be relevant to thedeliberate release of organisms or toxinsharmful to humans or animals.

July-Dec 2011 29

Genetic Modification in Plants

Field releases of GM crops and transgenicplants have grown enormously since the firstfield trial was held in 1986. The principal GMcrops being used are soybean, maize andcotton. These crops mostly contain a singletransgene that modifies the plant forherbicide tolerance or insect resistance. Anumber of other GM plants are being testedfor traits that influence virus resistance, cropquality, male sterility and disease resistance.

There is considerable interest and a lot ofresearch has been going on in thedevelopment of crops with enhanced foodsand pharma crops. In enhanced foods, GMcrops containing omega-3 fatty acid are beingdeveloped as an alternative to fish source inthe diet, and vitamin A enriched GM rice(golden rice) is being investigated in fieldtrials. In pharma crops, GM crops containingpharma-active molecule, termed as ediblevaccines, are being investigated asbioreactors for producing sufficient materialsto initiate clinical trials. An example isdevelopment of an authentic insulin moleculein safflower.

Advances in expression technologies have ledto use of some of the plant viruses likecowpea mosaic virus, tobacco mosaic virus,potato virus X, and tobacco rattle virus asvectors for the expression of foreign proteinsin plants. These vectors have been appliedin several areas of plant sciences, includingthe expression of vaccines and high-valuepharmaceuticals. Modified viruses are beingutilized for plant genomic studies via virus-induced gene silencing, leading to their usein medical and other fields. But the potentialavailability of these vectors for applicationsas bioreactors for developing useful bio-products for human beings may also lead totheir potential use to develop toxiccompounds.

Like other applications of GM technologies,developments in the field of GM crops havethe potential for misuse. For example, anti-crop agents can be designed with improvedproperties. The deliberate or accidentalintroduction of GM seeds or crops within acountry that has not approved such productscould have serious economic consequencesdue to the efforts required in detection andclean-up operations. Also, microbialpathogens could be genetically engineered tomaximize infectivity and pathogenicity.Likewise, they could be modified to increaseor decrease their environmental stabilityand persistency. These developments havepotential to be applied for beneficial peacefulpurposes, but also may be appliedmaliciously.

Bio-pharming

Plants and animals are used to producebioactive molecules intended for industrialproducts and pharmaceuticals. Bio-pharming enables production of vaccines andantibodies that otherwise are too expensiveor inefficient to produce using conventionalproduction methods. The same technologies,however, are helping the scientists to exploreplants as a cost-effective way to produceagents capable of bio-warfare or asantibodies for use against potential bio-warfare agents. Genetic modification ofplants renders them more lethal than non-transgenic crops. Large quantities of bio-regulatory or other toxic proteins havingpotential to be used as biological agents canbe produced in a short time, eliminating therisk of discovery.

Biological Pest Control

Significant progress has been made in thestudy of microbial agents for the purpose ofbiological control of pests and diseases ofplants. Advances in molecular biology


research have the potential to revolutionizethe efficacy of bio-control agents. This hascaused a paradigm shift in the use of chemicalcrop protection technologies. Efforts are alsobeing made to explore vast sources of largelyuntapped naturally occurring organisms withthe potential to provide new toxins suitablefor pest control and their formulation. Theavailability of novel synthetic chemicals witha more benign environmental and healthprofile remains a factor for consideration.

Most important research and developmenthas focused on Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt),towards the worldwide growth of transgenicBt crops. Further efforts are aimed at findingnew genes and toxins from Bt strains withmore effective pesticide toxins, to increasethe range of targets that can be controlledusing either conventional bio-pesticides ortransgenic methods. In this effort completegenome has been sequenced of the entomo-pathogenic bacterium, Photorhabdusluminescens, as a source of new genes forinsect control. An unusual soil-dwellingbacterium (Pseudomonas entomophila),which is unique in that it is resistant to theimmune defences of insects, promises todeliver new bio-pesticides. A novel strain ofa new species of bacteria, Bacillusnematocida, has been discovered withactivity against nematodes. Some endotoxinsproduced by Bt display antibacterial effectson some other micro-organisms.

Molecular technologies have also beenutilized to enhance the insecticidal toxicityof Bt toxins by combining the attributes ofthe Bt toxin with other micro-organisms,including baculovirus-based systems andother bacteria. Delivery of toxins via othermicrobial expression systems is a possiblealternative to the production of transgenicplants. But these developments also have thepotential for misuse in a BW programme:expertise in the transfer of Bacillus genes

among closely related species could beutilized for malign purposes, as couldmanufacturing expertise and facilities andfield delivery systems.

Research in biological pest control has alsoincreased the hunt for development ofrefined aerosol models for effective dispersalof biological agents. Using geneticengineering technologies also makes itpossible to programme the survival of areleased bacterial population and the effectin the environment. The knowledge ofpersistence and ecological effects would alsobe of value while releasing the geneticallymodified organisms. At the same time,knowledge gained in the areas ofdissemination technology of bio-pesticidescould be misused by an aggressor to releaseorganisms or toxin harmful to crops, animalsand to some extent in humans.

Bio-prospecting

Advances have been made in newtechnologies – bio-prospecting – to explorethe immense biological and chemicaldiversity in nature that has been difficult toaccess by natural methods. New tools arebeing used for actively screening for novelcompounds produced by living organisms indifferent environments to evaluate theirpotential for use in medicine, agriculture andindustry.

The microbial community represents thelargest source of genetic diversity on theplanet. A large number of new compoundsof biological origin and mostly produced bythe microbial community have been identifiedfrom different environmental sources.Studies of the compounds also reveal thelarge overlapping fractions of microbialgenomes that could be used to disclose entiregenomes of previously unknown micro-organisms even if present in very low

July-Dec 2011 31

amounts. There is a strong demand todevelop techniques for expression of thegenetic information in various heterologoushosts to produce and characterize the newcompounds of interest using DNAsequencing technologies. Bio-prospectingcould also identify microbes that might serveas pathogens and provide an early warningfor potential disease-causing agents. Fordrug development, agriculture and industrythe information generated by bio-prospecting would be very significant in thenear future.

New tools such as satellite mapping usinghigh-resolution landscape datasets of pestsand diseases, including insects and theirbehaviour, would greatly benefit eradicatinginvasive alien pests and diseases. Theexploitation of new mobile computing, GPS,digital photography, telephone technologies,etc. provides precision and accuracy toinformation, which enables rapidtransmission of key data for computation forbetter management of pest outbreaks.Conversely, bio-prospecting could be usedas databank regarding the biological activityof dangerous pathogens and novel agentshaving severe effects and toxicity forhumans, with the intent of introducing theminto an immunologically naïve population. Itcould also impact on available measures ofprotection. The information on the novelcompounds would also provide scope formodifications or synthesis by chemicalmeans.

Bio-remediation

Bio-remediation technologies are being usedworldwide to clear the environment of theharmful effects of the pollutants and convertthem into useful products. Czech scientists,for example, have used bio-remediationtechnologies to detoxify mustard gas(yperite), using enzymatic catalysis with

haloalkane dehalogenases. Haloalkanedehalogenases also provides usefulapplications in the production of alcohols totreat Alzheimer’s disease or in biosensors todetect chemicals in the environment.

Non-lethal Biological Weapons(Nlbw)

Non-lethal weapons are intended toincapacitate personnel or materiel withoutvisible injury or damage. NLBW involvepotential military use of agents causing slow-onset infections and to create novel anti-animal or anti-plant BW that haveconsequences leading to economic losses.

Studies for creating NLBW are reported inthe field of allergology, specifically theproduction of genetically engineeredallergens. Recombinant allergens wouldinclude elements from the pollen of plantsand epidermal and microbial allergens.Creation of highly productive recombinantstrains will make it possible to produce largevolumes of allergens in short periods of time.Another area for NLBW is reportedly basedon the development of biological agentscapable of pathologically acting directly onthe genomes of people and animals withoutan infectious process. Pathology symptomsof such agents would have a lifelong nature,resemble hereditary diseases and beinherited from generation to generation,decreasing the viability of that hereditary line.

The social and economic consequences ofoutbreaks of animal and plant diseases aresignificant. The bubonic plague epidemic of1994 in India, the outbreak of FMD in 2001in Great Britain, epidemics of bird influenzaH7N3 in Canada in 2004 and H7 virus in2005 in North Korea, the 2003 epidemic ofatypical pneumonia in Hong Kong, have beenexamples of huge economic loss. Theseepidemics also caused destruction of animals


and birds leading to reduction in tourism anda significant loss of exports. These financialimplications become the source of motivationto create agents for use for prohibitedpurposes. This also increases significantly thedanger of novel anti-animal and anti-plantBW being developed. Virtually all of thedevelopments connected to agents ofinfectious disease can be realized not only forhuman pathogens, but also for animal andplant pathogens.

The Road To Weaponization

Some of the advanced technologies, tools anddesigns that lead to weaponization are:

l Rendering a vaccine ineffective;

l Conferring resistance to therapeuticallyuseful antibiotics or antiviral agents inpathogenic organisms to produce anuntreatable pathogen that is resistant tocommon antibiotics;

l Enhancing the virulence of a pathogen orrendering a non-pathogen virulent, toinflict increased human damage;

l Increasing the transmissibility of apathogen so that it is more easilytransmitted through a population;

l Altering the host range of a pathogen sothat people would lose immunity to thedisease;

l Enabling the evasion of diagnosis and/ordetection by established methods so thatin case of biological attack, there is delayin diagnosis and subsequent treatment;

l Undertaking genetic sequencing ofpathogens to reconstruct a pathogen ordevelop a novel pathogen for deploymentagainst a target population with nonatural immunity;

l Synthesizing pathogenic micro-organisms to facilitate reconstruction ofextinct or construction of novelpathogens;

l Enabling weaponization of a biologicalagent or toxin in making biological attacksmore likely; and

l Experimentation with the smallpox virusso that it could be used in a biologicalattack.

Conclusion

Advances in biotechnology have brought inmajor changes in biology and life science areasthrough new techniques of geneticengineering and sequencing technologies,including rDNA technology that permits thetransfer of genetic material between widelydivergent species and changes in thecharacter of micro-organisms. The increasein knowledge of many pathogenic species ofmicro-organisms, toxins and other biologicalagents and the continuing pace ofdevelopments in civilian-relatedbiotechnology areas have further increasedthe possibilities for production and hostileuse of biological agents, making BW anattractive option for governments seeking toacquire weapons of mass destruction. A BWprogramme can be hidden amidst dual-purpose industries.

Technologies like biotechnology,nanotechnology and information technologyare converging in ways that will enable lifeprocesses to be manipulated with far-reaching implications and great potential fornefarious and disastrous outcomes. The toolsdiscussed above interactively createunanticipated opportunities for thesetechnologies to be used for the benefit ofhumanity and agriculture, while openingequal opportunities for their malicious use.

July-Dec 2011 33

Interestingly, preparation of effectiveprotective material against BW requiressignificant purification procedures andinfrastructure for state-of-the-art producedvaccines, therapeutics, therapies, andprophylactic products; but the potentialmisuse of these technologies for the creationof effective BW does not requireinfrastructure of similar sophistication.

The implications of the advances in biologicalscience and technology relevant to BTWC

are being considered in relation to nationalimplementation of Articles III, IV, VII andX. Monitoring and assessment of thescientific developments in biological sciencesis considered important for the States Partiesin their preparedness to counter outbreaksof disease, whether natural, accidental ordeliberate, and in ensuring that national bio-security and bio-safety arrangements are up todate and effective enough to strengthen BTWC.


ChemicalWeapons in SriLankaMs. Gulbin Sultana

The author is a ResearchAssistant at the IDSA, NewDelhi.

Summary

While the Sri Lankan Governmentand security forces have confirmedthe possession of chemical weaponsby the LTTE, it is very difficult toverify the actual use of such weapons.However, there are occasional mediareports available of LTTE’s chemicalattack.

Country Profile

During the Eelam Wars in Sri Lanka,there was considerable concern about

the use of chemical weapons. Allegedly, boththe LTTE and Sri Lankan army hadpossessed such weapons. However, no strongevidence of the use of chemical weaponsduring the war has been found yet.

Possession and Use of ChemicalWeapons by the LTTE

According to Prof. Peter Chalk, a leadingexpert on Tamil Tiger’s strategies, LTTE isthe first known terrorist group to usechemical weapons.1 The then Sri LankanPrime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayakasaid in 2007 that his Government hadevidence that the LTTE had plans to usechemical weapons against the Sri Lankansecurity forces.2 Sri Lankan ForeignSecretary Palitha Kohona also confirmedthat the government had found evidence thatthe LTTE were seeking to buy thermobaricweapons and launchers. In addition, duringthe Eelam wars, Sri Lankan security forcesdetected that the tigers were transportinglarge quantities of acid. The Sri LankanMilitary had also reported capture of a largestock of gas masks and chemical resistantcostumes from an LTTE camp atUdayarkattukulam in the Mullaithivu districtin the north.3

While the Sri Lankan Government andsecurity forces have confirmed thepossession of chemical weapons by theLTTE, it is very difficult to verify the actualuse of such weapons. However, there areoccasional media reports available of LTTE’schemical attack. It was reported that LTTEused locally manufactured chemicals toattack Sri Lankan Army’s Kiran camp atTrincomalee in 1990.4 however, the SriLankan Government in power during thatperiod did not take the issue seriously andalso did not make any effort to inform the

July-Dec 2011 35

international community. Allegedly, theLTTE again used thermobaric rockets in a2005 attack that killed thirteen sailors,leaving bodies burned beyond recognition.

The chemical weapons possessed by theLTTE were locally manufactured as well asacquired from foreign countries. Reportedly,LTTE had a toxicological laboratory housedin two floor underground in the jungles ofVanni. The underground laboratory wasprotected by three storied building above-ground. “Pro-LTTE Sri Lankan chemicalexperts and engineers who worked inWestern countries are said to be the brainsbehind the building of the lab as well as thetoxicological products”.5

It was also suspected that a West Europeancountry closely aligned with the LTTE mighthave provided the chemical weapons to theLTTE via another East European countryunder a bi-lateral agreement with thatcountry with special secret instructions foronward shipment to Vanni. It is interestingthat according to a media report ofNovember 2005, the foreign power whichprovided the chemical weapons to the LTTEhad obtained an assurance from the Tigersthat they would not use these weaponsagainst the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.6 Theywere basically meant for destroying thecadres of the breakaway rebel group led byColonel Karuna in Eastern Sri Lanka.7

Minimum loss to its cadres was the mainobjective of the LTTE to use the chemicalweapons. After the LTTE was thrown out ofJaffna in 1995, it was planning to launch amajor assault on Jaffna. Anticipating a heavyloss of manpower, LTTE adopted a newstrategy of immobilising the Sri Lankanforces through chemical weapons before acounter-offensive could be launched. Butthere are examples when this techniquebackfired as according to Prof. Peter Chalk,the LTTE used a chemical weapon to attach

an army camp in one of its early offensive,but it backfired because the winds broughtmost of it back and deposited the chemicalon the LTTE side.8

Possession and Use of ChemicalWeapons by the Sri LankanArmy

There are serious apprehensions thatthermobaric bomb - a bomb that uses a fuel-air explosive capable of creatingoverpressures equal to an atomic bomb –was used by the Sri Lankan Army during theEelam War 4.9 Sri Lankan army reportedlyhad acquired the Russian RPO-A rockets in2001 via a British company, GladstoneIndustrial Holdings.

A petition, which was sent to Mr. Ban KiMoon, UN Secretary General; Respected MsNavi Pillay, UN High Commissioner forHuman Rights; Dr. Manmohan Singh, PrimeMinister of India and Heads of Governmentof South Asian Countries, soughtindependent verification of the use of suchweapons. The petition said,

“it is very important that the truth aboutthe actual use of these ‘weapons of massdestruction’ including thermobaric bombsbe independently verified and its sourceof supply identified. If indeed thesehorrific weapons have been used, theinternational community shouldimmediately initiate prosecution of thehighest functionaries of the Sri Lankanstate and the Government of the countrythat supplied these bombs for commissionof war crimes and crimes againsthumanity.”10

UN Expert Panel Report on Accountabilityin Sri Lanka had also presented theallegation of Sri Lankan Army using clusterbomb munitions or white phosphorous orother chemical substances against civiliansduring the war. Since the panel was not able


to reach to any conclusion regarding theircredibility, it recommended furtherinvestigation into this allegation.11 The SriLankan Government refused to conduct anysuch investigation and on the contrary, itregularly tries to silent anybody who wantsto initiate any independent investigation intothis matter. According to the wife ofPrageeth Ekneligoda, the political columnistand cartoonist who has been missing since24 January, 2010, the main reason for hisdisappearance is an investigation he carriedout on the alleged use of chemical weaponsby the Sri Lanka forces in 2008.12

It is very difficult to validate the mediareports on either LTTE or the Sri LankanArmed forces. As a party to the chemicalWeapons Convention13, Sri LankanGovernment has officially denied havingsuch weapons. It is noteworthy that in achemical warfare, user also needs to adoptprecautionary measures. Precautionarymeasures adopted by the Sri Lankan Armywhen they came to know about thepossession of such weapons by the LTTEwere as follows;

l Alerted regional and internationalintelligence agencies and media

l Used more camouflage for constructingbunkers etc. to avoid detection

l Frontline troops (especially attackingtroops) were equipped with Oxygen gasmasks.

l Advance dressing stations (ADS), frontmost medical installation were providedmedical drugs etc. for burning injuries etc.

LTTE’s reactions to the Possession ofChemical Weapons by the Sri Lankan Armywere;

l Warned the Chandrika Kumaratungagovernment of disastrous consequences

if it inducted the recently acquiredweapons with chemical warheads into thenorth-eastern theatre of war.14

l Called upon the concerned nations of theinternational community, particularly theUnited States, Britain, European Unionand India to condemn Sri Lanka for theacquisition of weapons with chemicalwarheads and to impress upon theSinhala Government the detrimentaleffects of their use in the Tamil homeland.

Conclusion

It can be argued that despite the possibilityof occasional use of chemical weapons, SriLanka is not assuming a high threat fromchemical weapons. The weapons reportedlyused during the Eelam wars were veryprimary. According to Sri Lankan Army,most of the chemical weapons found from theLTTE have already been destroyed. Theremaining ones are in Army’s armouries forwhich army maintain several strictregulations and procedures to keep accountof them so that they don’t fall in the wronghands.

Endnotes:

1 “Tamil Tigers ready to attack Sri Lankan forceswith toxic weapons”, Asian Tribune, July 12,2006, accessed on 9 November 2011, availableat http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/1034

2 “LTTE Ready to Use Chemical Weapons: PM”,The Times of India, September 6, 2007,accessed on 6 November 2011, available athttp://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-09-06/rest-of-world/27954292_1_ltte-chemical-weapons-sri-lanka-s-tamil-tigers

3 B. Muralidhar Reddy, “Sri Lankan Army findschemical warfare equipment”, The Hindu,March 13, 2009, accessed on 2 November2011, available at http://www.hindu.com/2 0 0 9 / 0 3 / 1 3 / s t o r i e s /2009031354791300.htm

July-Dec 2011 37

4 “Air Force More Than Matches New TigerWeapon”, The Nation, September 29, 2008Accessed on 10 November 2011, available athttp://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2008/9/32965_space.html

5 Tamil Tigers ready to attack Sri Lankan forceswith toxic weapons”, Asian Tribune, July 12,2006, accessed on 6 November 2011, availableat http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/1034

6 “Acquisition of Nerve gas and other LethalChemical Weapons by the LTTE”, The AsianTribune, November 21, 2005, accessed on 6November 2011, available at http://www.asiantribune.com/acquisition-nerve-gas-and-other-lethal-chemical-weapons

7 Ibid.

8 “Tamil Tigers Ready to Attack Sri LankanForces with Toxic Weapons”, The AsianTribune, July 12, 2006, accessed on 6November 2011, available at http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/1034.

9 Hambling, David, “Thermobaric Slaughter inSri Lanka?”, May 1, 2009, accessed on 6November 2011, available at http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/05/thermobaric-slaughter-in-sri-lanka/.

10 “Appeal on Sri Lanka by concerned South Asiacitizens”, 10 April 2009, accessed on 6November 2011, available at http://t r a n s c u r r e n t s . c o m / t c / 2 0 0 9 / 0 4 /_appeal_on_sri_lanka_by_concer.html

11 “Report of the Secretary General’s Panel ofExperts on Accountability in Sri Lanka”, March31, 2011, accessed on 6 November 2011,available at http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf

12 “Prageeth missing due to ‘chemical weaponprobe”, January 28, 2011, accessed on 6November 2011, available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2011/01/110128_prageeth_galle.shtml

13 Sri Lanka signed and ratified the ChemicalWeapons Convention on the January 14, 1993and August 19, 1994 respectively. The Ministryof Industry and Commerce is the nationalAuthority responsible for the implementationof the Chemical Weapons Convention in SriLanka which also functions as the lead agencyin case of chemical emergencies in the country.

14 LTTE came out with the following Press Releaseon 16 August 2001: “We are perturbed overreports that the Sri Lanka government haspurchased new infantry weapon system withchemical warheads. This Russian made rocketpropelled ‘thermobaric’ weapon isinternationally banned for its lethal toxic effectson combatants and civilians. The acquisitionof this banned weapon by Sri Lanka marks anew and dangerous escalation of the armedconflict in the island.”, Thermobaric Warfareand Humanitarian Concerns, D. B. S. Jayaraj,19 August 2001, Accessed on 6 November2011, available at http://www.sangam.org/A N A L Y S I S _ A R C H I V E S /Jeyaraj_8_20_01.htm


Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope: Geneva Protocoland Its Importance in thecontext of Bio-Weapons

As argued in this issue, the incidents of theactual use of chemical and biological weaponspeaked during the World War I. While theGerman forces used these weapons on themaximum number of occasions, Britishforces bore its maximum brunt with morethan 125,000 casualties. Since Europe wasthe theatre of the Great War, it was here thatthe consequences of the use of biologicalweapons were seen for the first time in themodern war history. As a consequence ofthis, urgent action was felt necessary in orderto ban the use of bio-weapons in a large scalewar.

The Geneva Protocol or the Protocol for theProhibition of the Use of Asphyxiating,Poisonous or Other Gases, and ofBacteriological Methods of Warfare wassigned on June 17, 1925 and it entered intoforce on February 8 1928. By 2010, 137 hadratified and acceded to the Protocol. It issignificant to note that the Geneva Protocoldid not ban the research and development,

stockpiling, trade and exchange and testingof bio-weapons on one hand as its focus wasonly ‘the prohibition of use’. On the otherhand, important users of bio-weapons did notsign it till late. For example, the UnitedStates and Japan did not sign it until 1970.

Geneva Protocol is an extension of theprovisions of Hague Conference of 1899 as itwidens the definition of bio-weapons. It wascritical because the advances in bio-chemicalresearch in the period between HagueConference and Geneva Convention hadexpanded the scale of bio-weapons to a largeattack level, thereby increasing its lethalityin terms of scale and civilians had alsobecome the potential target due to the natureof war and lack of detection techniques.Therefore, Geneva Protocol helped bring thelarge scale use of bio-weapons under thecategory of war crimes, thereby reducing itsattractiveness as weapons of choice.

In this sense, Geneva Protocol can also besaid to be the predecessor to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT (1968) and theBiological Weapons Convention (BWC) (1972)Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) (1993).

July-Dec 2011 39

Chemical and Biological NewsARMS CONTROL

Captured Chemical Weapons in LibyaWere Declared to the OPCW byFormer Government

September 28, 2011

Libyan sources have informed the OPCWthat they are taking all necessary measuresto control stockpiles of chemical weaponsthat were captured last week. These are thesame stocks that were declared to theOrganisation by the former regime ofMuammar Qaddafi in compliance with theChemical Weapons Convention (CWC). TheOPCW has not been advised by the Libyansources of the discovery of any previouslyundeclared stockpiles.

“It is important for the OPCW that thesestockpiles are secured and misuse isprevented, and ensuring this remains anational responsibility under the provisionsof the Chemical Weapons Convention,” saidOPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü.“From this perspective we welcome the factthat Libyan authorities are taking necessarymeasures to secure the bunkers.”

Before the outbreak of the crisis the Qaddafiregime had destroyed 55% of its declaredamounts of sulfur mustard (mustard gas)and 40% of its precursor chemicals formaking weapons, as well as its entirestockpile of more than 3,500 aerial bombsdesigned for use with chemical weapons.These activities were halted in February2011 when the destruction facilitymalfunctioned, at which point the OPCWwithdrew its team of inspectors until repairscould be made.

The remaining chemical weapons are storedat a military facility about 700 kilometerssoutheast of Tripoli. The stockpiles nowconsist of about 9 metric tonnes of sulphurmustard agent and over 800 metric tonnes

of precursor chemicals. The newgovernment in Tripoli, which has beenrecognised by the United Nations, inheritsLibya’s obligations as a State Party to theCWC to destroy the remaining stockpiles intheir entirety under internationalverification by OPCW inspectors.

The OPCW is closely monitoringdevelopments in Libya and will be preparedto return its inspectors to the country assoon as circumstances permit. Oncedestruction activities are able to resume itshould be possible to destroy the remainingsulfur mustard agent, which poses thebiggest concern, within a month.

Source: http://www.opcw.org/news/article/captured-chemical-weapons-in-libya-were-declared-to-the-opcw-by-former-government/

US: Libyan Uranium, ChemicalWeapons Secure

August 25, 2011

The U.S. State Department said Thursdayit believes that Libyan stockpiles of mustardagent and uranium are secure, despitecontinuing turmoil there. U.S. officials are lesssure about the status of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons that were in Libyan leaderMoammar Gadhafi’s military arsenal.

The Gadhafi government, in a bid to escapeterrorism-related sanctions and politicalisolation, renounced weapons of massdestruction in 2003 and later gave up keycomponents of a nascent nuclear weaponsprogram.

But Libya’s continued to possess largequantities of mustard agent — a potentialcomponent of chemical weapons. And astockpile of low-enriched uranium, oryellowcake, has been a matter of


international concern as the countrydescended into conflict.

Nonetheless, State Departmentspokeswoman Victoria Nuland toldreporters on Thursday that the UnitedStates is confident, based on assurances fromLibya’s Transitional National Council, orTNC, and observations by U.S. intelligence,that Libya’s stockpiles of uranium andmustard agent are secure.

She said the yellowcake uranium is underguard at a nuclear research site near Tripoli.

“It is at the Tajoura nuclear research facility.It is safeguarded there. We are able, throughour national technical means, to assert thatwe believe it is secure. And in any case, Libyadoesn’t have the means right now to turnyellowcake into anything dangerous,’ Nulandsaid.

Nuland said that in the process that led tothe normalization of relations between theUnited States and Libya in 2006, the Gadhafigovernment surrendered nuclear weaponsequipment it had obtained from Pakistan’sA.Q. Khan network two years earlier. Shesaid it gave up its last highly-enricheduranium in 2009.

The State Department spokeswoman saidLibya still possesses a large quantity ofmustard agent that could potentially be usedto fill artillery shells and missile warheads.But she said that, too, is secure at a guardedammunition complex.

“It is inside massive steel containers withinheavy bunkers. These bunkers were sealedby the Organization for the Prohibition ofChemical Weapons, the OPCW. Ourjudgment is that they remain secure. Andagain, these are not weapon-readychemicals. They can’t be converted on a dime[i.e., quickly] and they’re in these massivedrums inside a heavy bunker. And we are

able to monitor the security with nationaltechnical means,” Nuland said.

“National technical means” commonly refersto spy satellites and other U.S. intelligenceassets.

Nuland said the main proliferation concernfrom Libya involves portable shoulder-firedanti-aircraft missiles, or MANPADS — shortfor Man Portable Air Defense System. TheGadhafi government is thought to havestockpiled perhaps thousands of theweapons, which could be used to shoot downcommercial airliners.

Since the Libyan conflict began, U.S.personnel have been working with countriesbordering Libya, and more recently with theTNC, to try to detect MANPAD smugglingattempts.

Nuland decried what she called “fear-mongering” reporting on the subject, but alsosaid that there is no reliable information onthe extent of the Libyan MANPAD problem,if there is one.

MANPADS have rarely been linked toterrorist attacks. One attack was anunsuccessful attempt by an al-Qaida-affiliated group to shoot down an Israeliairliner at the Kenyan port city of Mombassain 2002.

Source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/libya/2011/libya-110825-voa08.htm?_m=3n%2e002a%2e285%2eur0ao005sv%2e990

DISARMAMENT

Iran’s Nuclear, Chemical andBiological Capabilities: A NetAssessment

VCDNP hosted a panel discussion on 27May 2011.

July-Dec 2011 41

On May 27th, 2011 several experts gatheredin Vienna to discuss Iran’s nuclearcapabilities in light of a recently releasedInternational Institute of Strategic Studies(IISS) dossier detailing Iran’s nuclear,chemical, and biological capabilities. Panelexperts included Mark Fitzpatrick, Directorof the Disarmament and Non-proliferationProgramme at IISS, Ambassador Ali AsgharSoltanieh, Resident Representative of theIslamic Republic of Iran to the IAEA, andAmbassador Rüdiger Lüdeking, ResidentRepresentative of the Federal Republic ofGermany. The event was co-organized bythe Vienna Center for Disarmament andNon-Proliferation (VCDNP), theInternational Institute for Strategic Studiesand the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. ElenaSokova, Executive Director of the VCDNP,served as moderator.

The event began with a presentation byMark Fitzpatrick in which he highlighted thefindings of his recently released dossier,“Iran’s Nuclear, Chemical and BiologicalCapabilities: A Net Assessment.” BothAmbassador Soltanieh and AmbassadorLüdeking followed with comments of theirown. The discussion was particularly timelyconsidering the May 24, 2011 report byYukiya Amano, Director General of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency, inwhich he claims the IAEA possesses evidencethat Tehran has conducted work on a highlysophisticated nuclear triggering technologythat experts say could be used for only onepurpose: setting off a nuclear weapon. Thepresentation and the comments generatedan engaging discussion among the panelistsand numerous questions from the audience.

Source: http://vcdnp.org/110527_iran_capabilities_panel_discussion.htm

Minister of Foreign Affairs of IraqVisits the OPCW to DiscussImplementation of the ChemicalWeapons Convention

September 08, 2011

The visit by H.E. Mr Hoshyar Zebari on 7September 2011 was the first made to theOPCW headquarters by an Iraqi ForeignMinister since the country joined theChemical Weapons Convention (CWC) inearly 2009.

Mr Zebari met with OPCW Director-GeneralAhmet Üzümcü and discussed a variety ofissues related to the Convention, includingpreparatory measures for the destruction ofIraq’s remnant chemical weapons stockpilesand production facilities. Mr Zebari was alsobriefed on the OPCW’s work with Iraq in theareas of chemical demilitarization and CWCimplementation support.

Source: http://www.opcw.org/news/article/minister-of-foreign-affairs-of-iraq-v i s i t s - t h e - o p c w - t o - d i s c u s s -implementation-of-the-chemical-weapon/

NATIONAL ANDINTERNATIONALDEVELOPMENTS

Burundi ratifies the BiologicalWeapons Convention

London confirmed Burundi’s ratification on18 October 2011. This brings themembership of the BWC to 165 StatesParties.

Source: http://www.unog.ch/80256EE600585943/(httpPages)/87CF9BFD24A8D05FC1257574004B285B?OpenDocument


Biological weapons expert Tucker, 56,was known for fluency in politics

T. Rees Shapiro, August 4, 2011

Jonathan B. Tucker, 56, one of the country’sforemost experts on biological and chemicalweapons and an influential nonproliferationadvocate, was found dead July 31 at his homein the District.

A spokeswoman in the District’s Office of theChief Medical Examiner said determinationof the cause of death was pending furtherinvestigation.

Last year, Dr. Tucker stepped down afternearly 15 years as a research fellow inWashington at what is now the MontereyInstitute’s James Martin Center forNonproliferation Studies. At his death, hewas awaiting a security clearance for a newjob at the Department of Homeland Security.

A former editor at the journal ScientificAmerican, he wrote authoritative historieson chemical warfare and the eradication ofsmallpox. In the early 1990s, he worked onarms control and nonproliferation mattersat the State Department and thecongressional Office of TechnologyAssessment.

By many accounts, Dr. Tucker possessed ascientist’s probing mind and a policy wonk’sfluency on national security issues. Thesetraits earned him a trusted reputation onCapitol Hill and made him a key source tojournalists seeking a credible opinion onbiological and chemical weapons.

“Jonathan was a rare breed in that he knewthe science of the issue, which was reallycomplicated, and also knew the policy side,”said Paul Carroll, program director at thePloughshares Fund, a nonproliferationgroup. “He was one of really a handful of

people that could talk to both of theseaudiences, to both chemists and diplomats.”

In 1995, Dr. Tucker served as a UnitedNations weapons inspector in Iraq andhelped comb laboratories there for lethalgerms, noxious gases and other toxicsubstances. He used his firsthand knowledgeof Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s chemicalweapons program to advise the U.S.government before the invasion of Iraq inearly 2003.

Dr. Tucker provided expert testimony toCongress on how he thought Hussein couldpotentially use his alleged arsenal against theAmerican assault. He said U.N.representatives routinely discovered anddestroyed hidden caches of Iraqi biologicaland chemical weapons after the 1991 PersianGulf War.

Based on his research, Dr. Tucker told TheWashington Post in 2003 that Hussein “mayvery well use whatever he has” in a “last-ditch defense situation.”

Dr. Tucker added that the artillery systemsHussein used in the Iran-Iraq war of the1980s had since become obsolete and wouldnot effectively distribute germ weapons.

Hussein “could contaminate areas,” Dr.Tucker said, but any possible usage of theweapons would “only slow the oncomingforces down” because U.S. troops hadprotective suits.

Ultimately, the precautions wereunnecessary. Saddam had dismantled hisweapons program years earlier.

Jonathan Brin Tucker was born in Boston onAug. 2, 1954. He was a 1972 graduate of theprivate Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass.

He graduated from Yale University threeyears later with a degree in biology. He

July-Dec 2011 43

received a master’s degree from theUniversity of Pennsylvania before earning adoctorate in nonproliferation studies fromthe Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

His marriage to Karen Fifer ended in divorce.Survivors include his mother, DeborahTucker of Cambridge, Mass.; and a sister.

Dr. Tucker’s experience as a weaponsinspector helped him to be named in 1995 tothe Presidential Advisory Committee on GulfWar Veterans’ Illnesses.

The group was organized to investigate claimsthat troops who fought in the Persian GulfWar suffered from ailments possibly linkedto chemical weapons.

Although he received high performancereviews, Dr. Tucker was dismissed from theteam before the report was completed. Ininterviews afterward, Dr. Tucker said he wasremoved because he refused to limit hisresearch to data provided solely by thegovernment.

Dr. Tucker continued to investigateindependently, conducting interviews withcombat veterans and scouring declassifiedintelligence documents.

In testimony before a House governmentoversight subcommittee in 1997, Dr. Tuckersaid he found evidence that suggested Iraqdeployed chemical weapons against coalitionforces. His report contradicted the findingsof the Defense Department and the CIA,which contended that no such armamentswere used.

In 2008, the Research Advisory Committeeon Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses found thatmany of the symptoms veterans exhibitedafter the Gulf War may have been linked tochemical weapons. The panel concluded thatCongress should allocate at least $60 millionin funds to research Gulf War veterans’health issues.

“He was right,” said Jonathan Winer, aformer deputy assistant secretary of statefor international law enforcement. “Publicpolicy changed.”

Dr. Tucker’s books included “Scourge: TheOnce and Future Threat of Smallpox”(2001), which traced the virus over 6,000years, and “War of Nerves: ChemicalWarfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda”(2006).

In a New York Times review, author andgerm warfare expert Ed Regis called“Scourge” a “concise, suspenseful andscientifically accurate narrative.”

Dr. Tucker’s last book is scheduled forpublication early next year. A collaborativeeffort by 16 international experts, the bookfocuses on emerging technology and itsbenefits — and potentially dangerous uses— in the fields of chemistry and biology.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/biological-weapons-expert-tucker-56-was-known-for-fluency-in-p o l i t i c s / 2 0 1 1 / 0 8 / 0 2 /gIQAiIV2sI_print.html


Book Review

Iran's Nuclear,

Chemical and

Biological

Capabilities - A net

assessment (An

IISS Strategic

Dossier) 2011Dr. M. Mahtab Alam Rizvi

The author is an AssociateFellow at IDSA, New Delhi.

Summary

As a signatory to various treaties likethe Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),the Geneva Protocol, the ChemicalWeapons Convention (CWC) and theBiological & Toxin WeaponsConvention (BTWC), the officialIranian state policy is against thepossession and development of theseweapons.

An Overview: Iran's Nuclear,Chemical and BiologicalWeapons Programme*

As a signatory to various treaties like theNon-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the GenevaProtocol, the Chemical Weapons Convention(CWC) and the Biological & Toxin WeaponsConvention (BTWC), the official Iranian statepolicy is against the possession anddevelopment of these weapons. However,due to reports contrary to the state’sdeclared policy, various Europeangovernments and the United States (US)tend to view the Iranian weaponsprogrammes very seriously. Towards thisend, they have also used various means likesanctions and trade embargos to dissuadeIran from continuing with the weaponisationin any form as far as weapons of massdestruction are concerned. In the followingsections, Iran’s nuclear, chemical andbiological weapons strategy is looked into indetail.

Nuclear Weapons programme

Iran’s desire to develop a full-fledged nuclearfuel cycle is not new. During its cordialrelations with the West especially during theShah regime, Iran started looking foropportunities to develop nuclear technologyand accumulate valuable scientific expertisein the subject, which was later inherited byfounder of the Islamic Republic ImamKhomeini from the Shah. Before that, inMarch 1974, the Shah made a historicstatement in which he indicated a desire todevelop nuclear power plants capable ofproducing 23,000 MW within the next 20years.1 The same year, Iran signed contractswith the French company Framatome tobuild two pressurized water reactors capableof producing 950 MW of electricity. After theIslamic Revolution of 1979, Khomeini had

July-Dec 2011 45

strong reservations about the nuclearprojects on the grounds that they would makeIran dependent on foreign technology.However, very soon Iranian leaders realisedthe importance of nuclear power capacityand requested French and Germanycompanies to restart constructing nuclearpower plants. However, owing to the USpressure, they declined to build any nuclearplants. Subsequently, Iran turned itsattention to other potential suppliers suchas Pakistan, Argentina, Spain, China and theRussia.2 Finally, in 2010 Iran completed itsfirst and also long delayed Bushehr nuclearpower plant with the help of Russia.

Iran’s nuclear programme has continued toraise doubts among western countries. InFebruary 2003, while Iran began toacknowledge past secret activities, theInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)stressed its inability to verify the correctnessand completeness of the Iran’s declarationson the history and scope of its enrichmentand fuel reprocessing activities, and thereliability of the peaceful nature of its nuclearprogramme.3 In October 2003, then IranianPresident Mohammad Khatami (reformist)and EU-3 (Britain, France and Germany)signed an agreement to halt nuclearenrichment programme for the time being.Though, hardliner President MahmoudAhmadinejad resumed the nuclearprogramme in 2005. Iran’s refusal to giveearly notice of new nuclear facilities, therevelation in 2009 of a new secretenrichment plant at Fordow (near Qom) andcommencement in 2010 of enrichment tonearly 20 per-cent4 further heightenedinternational concerns especially the West.

Ahmadinejad’s stand on nuclear programmehas escalated tensions between Iran and theWest and led to the economic sanctions byUnited Nations Security Council (UNSC), theEuropean Union (EU) and the US. Thesesanctions have paralysed the Iranian

economy and have also succeeded ingenerating a debate among the Iranian eliteover the country’s nuclear policy. Becauseof Ahmadinejad’s determined agenda topursue a confrontationist policy,conservatives have been divided into twogroups – moderate conservatives and neo-conservatives. Moderate conservatives areheaded by Ali Larijani and MohammadBaqer Qalibaf (the Mayor of Tehran). Theyhave been critical of Ahmadinejad’s offensiveapproach and the resulting deterioration inIran’s ties with the international communityand the West in particular. Similar criticismhas also been directed at Ahmadinejad by acoalition of centrists and reformists headedby former President Mohammad Khatami,Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and ex-Speakerof Majlis, Mehdi Karroubi.

It must be noted here that there isunanimity among the country’s political elitethat Iran should continue to pursue itsnuclear programme for peaceful purposes.Their opinions are divided over the approachto be taken in dealing with the internationalcommunity with reference to the enrichmentprograms. At the same time, it must be alsonoted here that then IAEA DirectorMohammed El Baradei continues toappreciate the progress being maderegarding Iran’s nuclear activities andconsiders Iran’s cooperation with IAEAteams in a positive light.

Iran’s Chemical Weapons

In May 1998, for the first time Iran revealedthe existence of a past chemical weapon (CW)programme, admitting that it was developedduring the latter stages of Iran-Iraq War asa deterrent against a possible use of chemicalagents by Iraq. However, Iran also claimedthat it had terminated the programme afterthe 1988 cease-fire.5 Iran expresses that thefounder of the Islamic Republic AyatollahKhomeini specifically prohibited the use of


CW on religious ground. Moreover, at the1989 Paris Conference convened to reaffirmthe Geneva Protocol (when Iran first joinedthe protocol), Iranian foreign minister AliAkbar Velayati stated that Iran had ‘neverresorted to CW use, even in retaliation’.6 Iranhas also openly claimed a non-use policy,maintaining that CW are unethical andcontrary to Muslim beliefs because theyharm the environment. It has activelylobbied on behalf of the Organisation for theProhibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW),which verifies adherence to the CWC. TheCWC imposes a number of basic obligationson states that are party to the convention.For example, under article I, the partiesagree not to develop, produce, use, otherwiseacquire, stockpile, or retain chemicalweapons, or to transfer them to anyone,directly or indirectly.

On the other hand, according to the 2005Non-compliance Report, the US considersthat Iran has not revealed the full extent ofits CW programme. The assertion is that Iranhad manufactured and stockpiled first-generation CW agents-blister, blood, andchoking chemical agents- and hadweaponised some of these into artilleryshells, mortars, rockets, and aerial bombs.The US also accuses Iran for violation of itsCWC obligations because it is acting to holdand modernise key elements of its weaponsinfrastructure to include an offensivechemical weapons research and development(R&D) capability and spread mobilisationfacilities.7

Despite claims and speculation about itscapabilities and intentions, Iran hassometimes been said to be a CWC memberin good standing. OPCW inspections in Iranhave not left any unanswered questions and,like every other CWC member, it has notbeen found to be in violation of theconvention. In 2007, the OPCW found that

Iran was one of only 18 states to meet thesubmission deadline for the annualdeclarations regarding protected activitiesand anticipated production of chemical agentsat Schedule I chemical facilities – only onefacility is allowed with severely restrictedactivities.8

While no direct evidence exists to verifywhether Iran is currently operating a CWprogramme, Western governments agreethat Iran is seeking to acquire dual-useexpertise, equipment and materials from avariety of foreign sources that would help itto develop an independent capability toproduce advanced CW, such as nerve agents.Nonetheless, public information on specificIranian procurement efforts provides somedetails on the type of dual-use items thatIranian companies have sought to acquire,which, in the judgement of some foreigngovernments, provide insights into Iran’spast or present CW efforts. However, mostof this information is from Americansources.9

Biological Weapons Programme

Iran began an offensive biological weapons(BW) programme in the early 1980s duringthe Iran-Iraq War. Throughout the 1990s,the US government continually charged thatIran had a BW programme. During the war,Iran accused that Iraq had used BW. Inresponse, then Iran’s Majlis speakerRafsanjani declared that Iran should developBW in order to defend itself. Additionally, USofficials speculated that Iran’s interest indeveloping BW must have been furtherinspired by Iraq’s admission in 1995 that ithad a large and secret BW programme datingback to the mid-1980s and that it hadprepared biological warheads (anthrax,botulinum toxin and aflatoxin) for al-Husseinmissiles before the 1990 Gulf War.10

July-Dec 2011 47

The full extent of its BW capability remainsuncertain. The November 2004 “721 Report”of the Director of Central Intelligence gavethis assessment;

“Even though Iran is part of the BWC,Tehran probably maintained an offensiveBW programme. Iran continued to seekdual-use biotechnical materials,equipment, and expertise that could beused in Tehran’s BW programme. Iranprobably has the capability to produce atleast small quantities of BW agents”.11

The 2005 Non-compliance Report reiteratedthe concern over the nature of Iran’s BW-related activities, stating, “Iran is technicallycapable of producing at least rudimentarybiological warheads for a variety of deliverysystems, including missiles”. Director ofNational Intelligence (DNI) or Office of theDirector of National Intelligence (ODNI) JohnNegroponte said in February 2006testimony that the threat from biologicalagents or even chemical ones “would havepsychological and possibly political effects fargreater than their actual magnitude”.12 TheODNI’s most recent proliferation report toCongress in December 2009 adopted an evenmore cautious stance on the existence of anIranian BW programme, saying that ‘Iranhas the capability to produce some biologicalwarfare agents for offensive purposes, if itmade the decision to do so’. The 2010 StateDepartment arms-control compliance reportsaid, ‘available information also indicates Iranhas remained engaged in dual-use activitiesthat include procuring dual-use biologicalequipment and materials, conductingresearch involving BW-related pathogensand genetic engineering, and developingmechanisms that could be used to deliverbiological agents.’ The report concluded that‘Iran may not have ended activitiesprohibited by the BWC, although availableinformation does not conclusively indicate

that Iran is currently conducting activitiesprohibited by the Convention.’13 Iran isbelieve to be building large, state-of the-artresearch and pharmaceutical productionfacilities that could hide pilot to industrial-scale production capabilities for a potentialBW programme and could maskprocurement of biological weapons-relatedprocess equipment.14 It has been accused byboth British and American intelligence thatIran employs several former Sovietbiological engineers to work on Iran’s BWarsenal.15

Conclusion

The 2005 Non-compliance Report judgesfrom available information that Iran’soffensive programme appears to bematuring, with a rapidly evolving capacityfor the delivery of nuclear, chemical, andbiological weapons in a variety of ways.Claims maid by the West that Iran hascarried out activities in violation of its CWCand BWC obligations cannot be verified fromthe available public information and mayhave been exaggerated. However, in thenuclear field, Iran’s violation of NPTsafeguards obligations and obstruction ofIAEA investigations into allegations ofnuclear-weapons related work are welldocumented. At the same time, Irancontinues to claim that its nuclearprogramme is entirely peaceful purposes.

Endnotes:

* This review is based on IISS Strategic Dossier,February 2011.

1 Mustafa Kibaroglu, “Iran’s Nuclear Ambitionsfrom a Historical Perspective and the Attitudeof the West”, Middle Eastern Studies, 43 (2)March 2007; pp. 223-225.

2 Ibid; p. 235.

3 Yonah Alexander and Milton Hoenig, “The NewIranian Leadership: Ahmadinejad, Terrorism,


Nuclear Ambition, and the Middle East”,Praeger Security International, Wesport, 2008,p. 111.

4 “Iran’s Nuclear, Chemical and BiologicalCapabilities: A Net Assessment”, TheInternational Institute for Strategic Studies(IISS), London, February 2011, p. 47.

5 Yonaha Alexander, no. 3, p.183.

6 IISS, no. 4, p. 97.

7 Yonah Alexandar, no. 3, p. 186.

8 IISS, no. 4, p. 101.

9 Ibid., p. 107

10 Ibid., p. 109.

11 Unclassified Report to Congress on theAcquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons

of Masss Destruction and AdvancedConventional Munitions, 1 July through 31December 2003, Director of CentralIntelligence, November 2004.

12 John D. Negroponte, “Annual ThreatAssessment of the Director of NationalIntelligence”, Testimony before the SenateSelect Committee on Intelligence, February 2,2006, p. 10.

13 IISS, no. 4, p. 112.

14 U. S. Department of State, Adherence andCompliance with Arms Control, Non-proliferation, and Disarmament Agreements,August 2005, p. 20.

15 Jonathan B. Tucker, “Bioweapons fromRussia: Stemming the flow”, Issues in Scienceand Technology. www.issues.org/15.3/p_tucker.htm

.

editorial 2 invited articles 3editorial 2 invited articles 3 opinion 8 cover story 11 country...

Documents