The production of biological ...
The production of biological weapons can be divided into several stages, a biological agent must first be chosen and acquired, the production method must be acquired, the agent ...
What is biotechnology?
Biotechnology is the term used to describe a group or collection of technologies which capitalise on the attribute of cells, an example of this is manufacturing capabilities and ...
Agricultural biotechnology
Since time began we humans have always relied on plants and animals to provide us with food, shelter, clothing and fuel, and for thousands of years farmers have ...
Bio energy
Bio energy is any form of energy which can be stored in materials with the help of any living thing, one very simple example of a form of ...
The production of biological ...
The production of biological weapons can be divided into several stages, a biological agent must first be chosen and acquired, the production method must be acquired, the agent ...
What is biotechnology?
Biotechnology is the term used to describe a group or collection of technologies which capitalise on the attribute of cells, an example of this is manufacturing capabilities and ...
Agricultur ...
Since time began we humans have always relied on plants and animals to provide us with food, shelter, clothing and fuel, and for thousands of years farmers have ...
Bio diesel
Bio diesel is an alternative clean burning fuel that is made from domestic renewable resources which is better for the environment. It contains no petroleum but it can ...
The production of biological weapons can be divided into several stages, a biological agent must first be chosen and acquired, the production method must be acquired, the agent must then be grown and multiplied to sufficient quantities and finally the agent has to be prepared for delivery.
Deciding which agent is needed will depend on what the particular outcome is to be and then match this with the agent’s characteristics.
The characteristic relies on how much of a particular agent can cause disease, the time it takes from exposure to illness, how debilitating the result will be, how readily the disease will spread and how lethal the agent. Countermeasures to the disease are also taken into account.
Natural environment and a microbiology laboratory are the two main sources for the pathogen and as laboratories in which biochemical’s are stored are well guarded with the most advanced of security measures acquiring pathogen from a lab would be extremely hard to accomplish.
However there could be a way of getting around this; toxins can be produced by adding the DNA coding needed for its production to bacteria. Advancements over the last few years in biotechnology have made it possible to synthesize certain viruses; however this isn’t an easy matter as growing microorganisms require optimal conditions.
Actual living cells are required in order to grow viruses and some bacteria, fungi some bacteria and other microorganisms are usually grown in Petri dishes or fermentation vats. However growing large amounts of an agent requires a lot of space and is limited by factors such as cost, specialized equipment and the safety concerns that arise from handling dangerous substances.
Selection techniques and the great advancements in genetic engineering over the last few years now allow us more modifications of microorganisms which can alter an agent in a particular manner. Agents are now being modified to allow increased pathogenicity with a much shorter incubation period which will result in a much more severe and fast acting disease.
If scientists wanted, then using the biotechnology of today the possibilities could be endless and alterations could be made to them to make vaccines, treatments or the body’s own immune system defenseless against them.
Delivering an agent would also require great planning and preparation for it to remain effective when outside of its optimal growing conditions. Exposure to the outside world would have a negative effect on the pathogen, temperature, ultraviolet radiation, and drying can all have an effect.
Some pathogens are much hardier, anthrax for example can encapsulate itself into a hardy long lasting spore that can resist most of the conditions others cannot, however most agents require extra processing to minimize damage to them and for to remain active when removed from their environment.
