Creativity. A biological weapon?

This chapter introduces ethical issues that arise in the context of biosecurity: policies and actions intended to prevent the development or emergence, or mitigate the consequences, of serious biological threats. These threats could include deliberate biological weapon attacks (bioterrorism), pandemics, emerging infectious diseases, or major laboratory accidents. The basic values that underpin these public health concerns are first introduced. Ethical issues that arise before, during, and following a biosecurity crisis are then examined, including issues of resource allocation, dual-use research, and the possibility of quarantine. Their resolution requires trade-offs among different ethical values, including utility, fairness, and liberty.

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The Korean War Biological Weapon Allegations: Additional Information and Disclosures

Asian Perspective ◽

10.1353/apr.2000.0024 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 159-172

Author(s):

Milton Leitenberg

Keyword(s):

Korean War ◽

Biological Weapon ◽

Additional Information ◽

The Korean War

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Botulinum Toxin in WW2 German and Allied Armies: Failures and Myths of Weaponization

European Neurology ◽

10.1159/000512812 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Laurent Tatu ◽

Jean-Paul Feugeas

Keyword(s):

Botulinum Toxin ◽

Biological Weapon ◽

Military Research ◽

Intelligence Services ◽

National Archives ◽

The Usa ◽

Post War ◽

The 19Th Century ◽

The Military ◽

Second World

Botulinum toxin is nowadays approved as an effective medication for various neurological disorders. The extreme toxicity of this toxin-inducing botulism, a severe lethal muscle-paralyzing illness, has been well known since the seminal works of the end of the 19th century. Because of this toxicity, botulinum toxin was one of the first agents to be considered for use as a biological weapon. The Second World War was a crucial period for the first attempts to weaponize this toxin even if many unknown factors about botulinum toxin still existed at the outbreak of the war. Using documents from the British National Archives and other published sources, we discuss the main points of the attempts to weaponize this toxin in German and Allied armies. During WW2, Allied intelligence services regularly reported a major German threat related to the potential use of botulinum toxin as a biological weapon, especially during the preparation of <i>Operation Overlord</i>, the Allied invasion to liberate Europe. All these reports would ultimately prove to be inaccurate: botulinum toxin was not part of the German military arsenal even if some German scientists tried to use the results of the French pre-war military research. Misinformation spread by intelligence services stimulated military research at Porton Down facilities in England and at Camp Detrick in the USA. These studies led to a succession of failures and myths about the weaponization of botulinum toxin. Nevertheless, major progress (purification, toxoid) arose from the military research, providing useful data for the first steps of the therapeutic use of botulinum toxin in the post-war years.

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Botulinum Toxin as a Biological Weapon

JAMA ◽

10.1001/jama.285.8.1059 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 285 (8) ◽

pp. 1059 ◽

Cited By ~ 1095

Author(s):

Stephen S. Arnon ◽

Robert Schechter ◽

Thomas V. Inglesby ◽

Donald A. Henderson ◽

John G. Bartlett ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Botulinum Toxin ◽

Biological Weapon

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Ricin: A Possible, Noninfectious Biological Weapon

Bioterrorism and Infectious Agents: A New Dilemma for the 21st Century ◽

10.1007/978-1-4419-1266-4_8 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 205-216 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Maor Maman ◽

Yoav Yehezkelli

Keyword(s):

Biological Weapon ◽

Ricin A

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Bioterrorism and Dentistry

Journal of Contemporary Dentistry ◽

10.5005/jcd-1-2-37 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 37-39

Author(s):

Amit Chaudhari ◽

Priya Chaudhari

Keyword(s):

Health Professionals ◽

Biological Weapon ◽

Modern World ◽

Catastrophic Event ◽

Historical Aspect ◽

The People

Abstract In modern world, to spread the confusion and panic among the people terrorist can use biological weapon. In such Bioterrorism attack health professionals plays a key role. This paper reviews the historical aspect, definition, classification of bioterrorism agents and the role of dentistry in such catastrophic event.

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