DOCTORS WARN OF NEW BIOLOGICAL TERROR `WITHIN 10 YEARS
PA 21.01.99 18:23
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By John von Radowitz, Science Correspondent, PA News
Rapid advances in genetics could make terrifying "ethnic
cleansing" weapons a reality within 10 years, doctors warned
today.
Genetic biological weapons would be able to target particular
ethnic groups by homing on the molecular differences between, for
example, blacks and whites or Arabs and Jews.
Only in the presence of a specific set of genetic
"markers" would the death-dealing viral or bacterial
agent be activated.
A built-in "clock" could even ensure that such a weapon
switched itself off after the job was done - for instance after
wiping out a city or region inhabited by the targeted ethnic
group.
It sounds like science fiction. But experts from the British
Medical Association today warned that early versions of such
weapons could exist in five to 10 years.
Ironically, the new terror weapons would be spin-offs from
advances that will reap huge rewards for medicine and save
countless lives.
Two key developments were highlighted by the experts. One is the
Human Genome Project which aims to map the entire human genetic
blueprint by 2003.
The other is gene therapy, a technology still in its infancy,
which uses "vectors" such as harmless viruses to carry
corrective DNA into malfunctioning cells.
Professor Malcolm Dando from the Department of Peace Studies at
Bradford University, author of the BMA report "Biotechnology
Weapons and Humanity" published today, said: "The
development of molecular medicine based on our new understanding
of genomics will allow a vast range of new weaponry to be
developed.
"Among that range could be biological weapons specifically
targeted at particular ethnic groups."
The BMA called for the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
agreed in 1972 to stop the spread of biological and chemical
weapons to be strengthened.
Doctors were especially anxious to see effective verification
procedures introduced to ensure compliance.
An ethnic weapon would work using a biological agent genetically
engineered to target cellular molecular sites specific to certain
races, or even DNA sequences inside cells. Only in the presence
of these "markers" would they be activated.
Genetic engineering would also enable more stable, efficient, and
drug resistant strains of bacterial or viral weapons to be
created.
The fact that future biological weapons would be so much more
precise and reliable than they are now would increase the chances
of them being used, doctors warned.
One of the greatest dangers was terrorist groups getting their
hands on such weapons. Equipment advances would make them
relatively easy to produce from small, high-tech laboratories.
Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's head of health policy research,
said: "The history of humanity is a history of war.
Scientific advances quickly lead to developments in weapons
technology.
"It would be a tragedy if in 10 years' time the world faces
the reality of genetically engineered and possibly genetically
targeted weapons. Getting rid of weapons once they are produced
is very difficult; governments may be reluctant to give up
weapons that the rest of the world finds unacceptable. Terrorists
certainly will be.
"We still have the chance to strengthen the ban on these
weapons. We must do so now and we must make sure the ban is
policed effectively."
The Foreign Office said Britain was spearheading a major bid to
put teeth into the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.
At present there is no requirement for the compliance measures
that exist in other armament control conventions - for instance,
those covering nuclear weapons.
But on January 4 at a disarmament conference in Geneva, a 16-week
process of negotiation was launched, aimed at compiling a set of
verification protocols.
Britain is a leading mover in the negotiations, said the Foreign
Office.
A spokesman said: "We have been arguing for a long time that
the lack of protocols is something we must put right, and have
made some significant progress in recent months.
"We believe it is a realistic goal to get these protocols
agreed by the year 2000."
He said Britain had offered to host the signing ceremony for the
agreement once it was finalised.