Biotechnology : Impact On Biological Warfare & Bio-defence Introduction

BIOTECHNOLOGY : IMPACT ON BIOLOGICAL WARFARE & BIO-DEFENCE Introduction Biotechnology may have colossal impact on biological warfare and biodefence. since the branch is solaly hinged on the technical aspect of traditional biology .as far as the biological warfare is concerned biotechnological applications can support advanced biological warfare (ABW) weaponisation, dissemination & delivery. such new agents and delivery systems would provied a variety of new use options expending the BW paradigm. If biodefence is taken under consideration the biotechnological applications can provied new techniques including counterproliferation detection and development of medical countermeasures.

Biological Warfare 

Biological warfare (BW) is the use of organisms that cause disease to harm or kill an adversary’s military forces, population, food or livestoks.

Fusarium head blight biological warfare

Early

Target  Human: soldiers, civilian  Commercial animals  Commercial plants  Environmental systems

Purpose: 

Weaken, terrify or punish the enemy to a degree which induces them to comply with the attacker’s demands

Bioterrorism agents

Anthrax ( Bacillus anthracis)

Q Fever(Coxiella burnetii)

Plague (Yersinia pestis )

Ebola virus

Biotechnological Impact on biological warfare  Have the potential to revolutionise biological warfare by facilitating an

entirely new class of fully engineered agents reffered to as advanced biological warfare (ABW) agents.  Have potential to identify biochemical pathway critical for physiological process and engineer specific ABW agents to exploit vulnarabilities.  Have potential to develop future biological agents that could be rationally engineered to target specific human biological system at molecular level. such as cardiovascular, immunological, neurological, and gastrointestinal system.  Advances in biotechnology not only facilitate novel agents engineered to attack human systems, will increasingly permit modification of existing

agricultural pathogens and development of anti-agriculture and antimaterial BW agents

Biodefence

Definition 

Biodefense involves medical measures to protect people against biological agents. This means medicines and vaccinations. It also means medical research and preparations to defend against bioterrorist attacks.

 since September 11, 2001, the world has witnessed a growth in “new” scientific approaches to tackling the threat of bioterrorism in the form of disease surveillance and disease control. 

Anthrax, plague and small pox are some of the possible pathogens terrorists could use against us; but now, researchers say jellyfish are helping prevent these kinds of attacks.

Biotechnology & Biodefence 

Two classes of bio-detectors are especially promising: immunofluorescence-based sensors (agent-specific miniature flow cytometers) and DNA-recognition instruments (based on polymerase chain reaction [PCR]). When used together, these are capable of state-of the- art detection and identification of biological agents.

 Technology capable of having a single-cell microchip platform as a toxicity sensor is already available.  This technology has also been found to be useful in the production of chemical-biological mass spectrometers that are used to detect biological warfare agents.

Conclusion  The technology has the potential to produce both astonishing medical

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advances and dreadful bio weapons. The 21st century is witnessing a shift from the age of physics and chemistry to that of biology, and from the industrial revolution era to a biotech century. Bio-defence techniques have a much bigger role to play in society than merely that related to bioterror. At present, the existing defences against biological weapons are inadequate.But with the advancement of biotechnological tools in future we must be capable to kick out bioterrorism. So the biotechnological platform will be leveraged in pharmaceutical, bio warfare and bio-defence applications.