BIOTERRORISM

Intentional use of a pathogen to harm living beings and thus, influence the
behavior of governments or in order to intimidate civil population.

Microorganisms can be used for bioterrorism.

It is the criminal use of pathogenic microorganisms, toxins or harmful substances

against the population.

BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS

They are virus, bacteria or germs that are found in nature but can suffer
modifications to increase their capacity to be dispersed and make them more
harmful. They can be spread in the air.

In general, they are cheaper, deadly and they are not easy to detect.

Furthermore, animals can act as reservoirs of these pathogens.

Many of the biological agents that can be used as weapons are easy to obtain, the
thing is to produce them in high quantities and then release them effectively, for
example, in the water supply or in the form of aerosol.

BIOTERRORISM EXAMPLES

 The using of biological weapons started during the Great War, where
investigations of those began to take place, during the Second World War
those biological weapons started to be developed. As a consequence of
that, many Japanese died because of the experiments carried out with them.

 In 1940, the Imperial Japanese Army bombed Ningo with flea filled bombs
loaded with bubonic plague.

 What’s more, United States and the Sovietic Union started to make their
own arsenal full of biological weapons (1970) but they decided to sign an
agreement where they committed not to proliferate them.
  In Japan, a terrorist group called “Aum Shinrikyo” perpetrated an attack with
sarin gas in the cities of Tokyo and Matsumoto. Thy also attempted several
attacks with the anthrax and botulism bacteria (disease that paralyzed the
bones) and even traveled to Zaire to get samples of Ebola virus.

 Up to 1999, there were 100 incidents related to biological weapons, with a

total of 990 deaths.

 The 1984 Osho bioterrorism attack was the poisoninf of 751 people through
deliberate contamination with salmonella to a buffet of ten restaurants in
Oregon. The attack was carried out by a group pf Osho followers who
expected to incapacitate the city’s population of voter so that their own
candidates won the elections in 1984.

 There was an attack in the United Stated using Bacillus anthracis, also known
as Anthrax, in 2001. 22 people were infected and 5 died, they were
contaminated through letters sent by the postal service. Letters containing
infectious anthrax were sent to media offices and two senators.

PANDEMIC
It is an epidemic disease that extends widely through many countries or attacks
almost all individuals in a locality or region.

ANOTHER IDEAS
Biology is everywhere and with the power to create biology, every aspect of our
lives will be affected.

To nature it took billions of years of trial and error to establish their genetic codes
and select its best designs. And now, from nothing, people is trying to create brand
new codes going further than nature and without realizing how sensitive and
delicate is the balance that keeps all ecosystems and life working as we know it.

It is okay if people do it in order to find out more about the biologic system in
where we live and to discover some secrets of nature but what if they wouldn’t be
discovered? So many things can go wrong. Reserves with virus for investigations
can be stolen or can get out of control. Many experiments can be stolen and be the
starting point for bioterrorism.

They are aware of how much we still don’t know about fundamental biology, about
what they try to create and control. Yet, they have the power to engineer biology
for the purposes they want.

These technologies are becoming more accessible than ever and anyone could turn
a synthetic organism into a dangerous pathogen. Anything can be exploited and
abused.

They rewire organisms so they do what that people want them to do. Ya hemos
hecho esto con la agricultura animal, crearlos a nuestro gusto

Create new biological systems. Potential to modify living organisms and steer them
towards global problems.

The human genome project

Synthetic biology has already become a potential tool for a whole new kind of
weapon. Nowadays, create organisms does not require highly sophisticated
material or equipment, it is cheaper and accessible. Scientifics ended up creating
enough bioweapons to kill every person on the planet.

Resurrecting extinct viruses in synthetic form for new medical therapies.

Many organisms exist in nature in a dual form: some can make us sick and others
can fight diseases. It is up to each person what to do, how to use it.

To use them as a weapon you must know the correct way to make it grow and
determinate an effective way to disseminate it.

Engineered food product