Genetic weapons:
a 21st-century nightmare?
Ethirajan Anbarasan
© Jacques Langevin/Sygma, París
‘The social and ethical safeguards which
may prevent ethnic conflict and weapons development need to be discussed urgently’
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Genome research: hopes and dilemmas The Human Genome Project (HGP), which began in 1990, is
an international 15-year $3-billion initiative to trace and identify all the 60,000
to 80,000 genes (the human genome). International in scope, it has been described
as the largest scientific research effort ever undertaken in the biological sciences.
It is also seeking to determine the complete sequence of 3 billion sub-units of human
DNA (deoxribonucleic acid), the molecule which codes genetic information and provides
the biological instructions to make a human being. At least 18 countries have established
genome research projects, and about 1,000 individuals from 50 countries are members
of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO), which helps to co-ordinate international
collaboration. E.A.
Useful websites •www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/hugo (The Human Genome Organization) •www.nhgri.nih.gov (The National Human Genome Research Institute) •www.ornl.gov/hgmis (Human Genome Project Information) •www.tigr.org (The Institute for Genomic Research) •www.bma.org.uk/ mindex.htm (British Medical Association) |
© T.B.G./Sipa Press, París
It sounds like science
fiction, but like many another prediction that was once dismissed as far-fetched
it may become a reality.Scientists have warned that recent advances in biological research could eventually lead to the creation of a new type of biological arsenal capable of targeting a specific group of human beings with common genetic characteristics, as may be the case with certain ethnic groups.
“It will unfortunately be possible to design biological weapons of this type when more information on genome research is available,” says Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and health policy at the British Medical Association (BMA), the body which represents the medical profession in the United Kingdom.
This terrifying prospect may be an unwelcome piece of spin-off from research being carried out under the Human Genome Project (see box), an international scientific effort to map and sequence the genes in the human body and find out more about human DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the molecule which provides the biological instructions to make a human being.
Repairing defective genes
Late last year, genome research achieved a breakthrough when scientists for the first time deciphered the full genetic programming of an animal. The creature was a microscopic roundworm known as Caenorhabditis elegans, but because worms and humans have turned out to share many genes in common, the worm genome is regarded by biologists as an essential basis for understanding how the human genome works.
Scientists say a detailed understanding of genetic mechanisms of human beings will help them to find out the causes of many diseases. For example, knowledge of an individual’s genetic make-up will enable doctors to predict whether or not a specific drug will work on a particular patient, allowing therapies to be more accurately targeted. Similarly, genetic testing for predisposition to a range of illnesses could become feasible, and by using what is known as gene therapy doctors would be able to replace deficient genes or repair defective ones.
However, genome research may turn out to have a grim downside.
It has proved that biologically there are more similarities between human beings than differences, further dissolving traditional prejudices of race and ethnicity. However, differences do exist, and if investigations provide sufficient data about ethnic genetic differences between population groups, it may one day be possible to target the groups with dangerous micro-organisms.
One specialist who takes this eventuality very seriously is Malcom R. Dando, Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University, England. In Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity, a newly published report which he wrote for the BMA, he examines the whole question of how the revolution in biotechnology might be used to attack the genetic constitution of an ethnic group.
“The social and ethical safeguards which may prevent ethnic conflict and weapons development need to be discussed urgently,” he said in an interview. Although scientists agree that the technology to produce ethnic weapons is not a reality now, some feel there is a real chance that it may be developed within the next ten years. “No need to wait till the project is completed. Efforts to regulate genetic research should begin now,” says Dando.
Prof. Dando says the world community is already struggling to eliminate existing biological weapons. These weapons, which carry agents spreading deadly diseases like anthrax and other lethal toxins, can devastate human beings without causing damage to buildings or infrastructure. Experts say that a few hundred kilograms of a “weaponized” bacterial preparation has the potential to wipe out up to three million inhabitants concentrated in a city like New York.
The apartheid regime in South Africa is widely believed to have developed forms of biological weaponry for use against the black population. In the past, however, countries have rarely used such biological weapons in warfare, partly because of their fear of eliminating friendly populations and killing their own combatants. The new developments in genetic research described by Professor Dando would remove these limitations.
Genetic information is already being used in some countries to “improve” biological weapons, e.g. by equipping them with agents to provide increased antibiotic resistance–and it is likely that this trend will accelerate as the knowledge and understanding of its applications become more widely known.
In the hands of terrorists or cult groups
The problem of the proliferation of biological weapon research has been aggravated by fall-out from the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Most of the nearly 30,000 scientists who were involved in biological research in the USSR during the 1980s are now out of a job because of the country’s economic difficulties. Last year, some of them disclosed that they had been approached by certain countries which have shown particular interest in learning about microbes that can be used in war to destroy or protect crops, as well as genetic engineering techniques that could be used to make deadly germs for which there may be no antidotes.
Dando argues that scientists in countries that belonged to the former Soviet Union should be diverted from involvement in programmes with sinister motives by schemes such as scientist-to-scientist exchanges, joint research projects and the conversion to civilian use of laboratories and institutes once associated with the Soviet military effort.
One prospect that alarms arms control experts is that biological weapons will fall into the hands of terrorist or cult groups. Twelve people were killed and 5,000 injured in the Tokyo subway in 1995 in an attack launched by the Aum Shinrykyo cult using sarin, a lethal nerve gas that produces asphyxia. Investigations later revealed that the cult group had had no problem in recruiting scientists to work on biological weapons but could not employ the weapons due to lack of a proper delivery system.
As a first step in coping with the problem of potential new biological weapons, arms control experts are calling for the bolstering of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), an international treaty signed in 1972. The convention prohibits its signatories from developing, producing, stockpiling and acquiring biological weapons.
Dando points to the fact that though 142 nations have signed the convention so far, this has not deterred countries from developing or obtaining knowledge on biological weapons. “This is mainly because there is no verification system attached to the convention,” he says.
Monitoring the uses of genome mapping
“The threat of new genetic weapons is clearly going to be an ongoing problem for the international community,” says Michael Moodie, President of the U.S.-based Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute. “Such weapons are covered by the current treaty, but this needs to be strengthened by an effective verification protocol and fully implemented so we can be sure states comply with their obligations. A variety of tools should be used, including arms control, export controls and enhanced intelligence capability to monitor countries of concern.”
The BMA report cited earlier says professional scientists and physicians should shoulder their ethical responsibilities and take no part in biological and genetic weapon projects. It calls for close monitoring of developments in biotechnology worldwide and open debate, particularly in relation to the use of genome mapping. However, “These measures can minimize the threats but not eliminate them,” says Nathanson.
There is also growing concern about the misuse of genetic information available on Internet. Scientists worldwide share information on new findings in biological research through Internet which could be manipulated by private groups. Nathanson says Internet service providers have an ethical obligation to ensure information on biological weapons is not available on their websites.
One big problem in monitoring is how to distinguish between research carried out for good and evil ends. The fact is that genetic research which develops specific therapeutic agents is scientifically indistinguishable from research to develop a lethal or disabling agent targeted at specific clusters of genes in an ethnic group. This makes it all the more necessary to make sure that information is used for positive purposes.
According to Dando, one avenue to be explored is to ensure that developing countries are given the opportunity to share the benefits of the modern revolution in biotechnologies which can be used for disease control and economic development. In return they would be required to promise that malign research would not be carried out in their laboratories. “This is currently being negotiated by countries which are party to the BTWC,” he says.
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