BIOTECH WEAPON
A victory in Iraq, followed by success in eliminating immediate threats of nuclear, biological, and chemical-weapons proliferation, buys us just a decade or two, I figure, before any Unabomber/Tim McVeigh-style fanatic can cook up a plague. Weapons of mass destruction aren't going to go away, and somebody will always have a cause or grievance. One reason the neocon crusade against biotech is so foolish is that it weakens the national defense they claim to care about. The country's future security depends on a strong, resilient, and clever biotech industry.
In his latest syndicated science column, Mike Fumento surveys the work biotech companies are doing to detect, prevent, and treat bioterrorism threats. A sample:
[T]he current anthrax vaccination requires six injections spread over 18 months to provide complete protection. But a gene-spliced vaccine under development by DVC of Reston, Va. would confer immunity with fewer injections, although that number has yet to be determined.
The third generation will be an oral vaccine from Avant Immunotherapeutics of Needham, Mass. It splices genes from anthrax and plague into a cholera vaccine already in advanced testing, thereby protecting against all three diseases. Theoretically, says Avant CEO Una Ryan, "We could keep adding in genes from other microbes that would protect against an even wider variety of bioterrorist threats."...
Devices for rapid detection of airborne and waterborne pathogens are also critical, and many such already exist. Called "biosensors," these devices usually use proteins to detect chemicals or other biological molecules. But the race is on to make them more portable, more accurate, and capable of detecting a broader spectrum of microbes.
One of the most promising is the EchoSensor from Echo Technologies of Alexandria, Virginia. It can detect and distinguish among groups of biological agents such as bacteria and bacterial spores, fungal spores, and toxins as well as measure the level of contamination. The detectors would be built into handheld devices or even worn as a "badge."
Echo Technologies says the detection system reduces the time required for biological analysis from hours or even days to only minutes.
For a quick survey (with gross photos of smallpox), read the whole thing.