The Role of Biotechnology in Countering BTW Agents

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxi

   PDF

2. Political and Economic Dimensions of Countering BTW Agents and Strenghtening the BTW Control Regime

   1. Dealing with a Headache: Three Scenarios and Two Dilemmas

      • Harald Müller

      Pages 1-7

   2. Countering Biological Warfare: An Overview

      • Graham S. Pearson

      Pages 9-31

   3. Lessons of the Chemical Weapons Convention for the BTWC Protocol

      • Alexander Kelle, Jiri Matousek

      Pages 33-45

   4. Biotechnology and the Strengthening of the BTWC

      • René van Sloten

      Pages 47-51

   5. Strengthening the BTWC through R&D Restructuring: The Case of the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology “Vector”

      • Lev S. Sandakhchiev, Sergey V. Netesov

      Pages 53-59

   6. Dissolution of the Soviet Union, Introduction of a Market Economy and the Future BTWC Compliance Protocol: Impact on the Russian Biotechnology Industry

      • John Compton

      Pages 61-67

3. Biotechnology in BTW Agent Detection: Underlying Technologies

   1. The Potential of Different Biotechnology Methods in BTW Agent Detection

      • Peter Sveshnikov

      Pages 69-77

   2. The Potential of Different Biotechnology Methods in BTW Agent Detection

      • Dario Leslie

      Pages 79-91

   3. The Role of Biotechnology in BTW Agent Detection

      • Kathryn Nixdorff, Alexei G. Prilipov

      Pages 93-103

   4. Detection of Biological Agents and Biosensor Design

      • James J. Valdes, James P. Chambers

      Pages 105-120

4. Biotechnology and BTW Agent Detection in Different Environments

   1. Detecting BTW Agents on the Battlefield

      • P. C. C. Henri Garrigue

      Pages 121-128

   2. Detecting Biological Terrorism

      • Gary Eifried

      Pages 129-140

   3. Detecting Biological and Toxin Weapon Agents in an Inspection Environment

      • Graham S. Pearson

      Pages 141-159

5. The Role of Biotechnology in the Pre-Exposure Treatment of BTW Agents

   1. Possibilities and Limitations of Vaccination

      • Kathryn Nixdorff

      Pages 161-183

   2. The Development of an Oral Vaccine Against Anthrax

      • Netty D. Zegers, Eerenst Kluter, Hans van der Stap, Ernst van Dura, Philip van Dalen, Mike Shaw

      Pages 185-196

   3. Vaccine Production

      • Jack Melling

      Pages 197-214

6. The Role of Biotechnology in Diagnosis and Identification of BTW Agents

   1. The Role of Biotechnology in Protection Against BTW Agents - Overview from a Medical Point of View and Identification of the Symptoms

      • György Berencsi, Gábor Faludi

      Pages 215-225

   2. Medical Countermeasures to Biological Warfare Agents

      • David R. Franz

      Pages 227-234

7. The Role of Biotechnology in Protection Against BTW Agents: Post-Exposure Treatment

   1. Treatment of Mass Casualties Under Worst Case Assumptions

      • Sven-Åke Persson

      Pages 235-245

Biotechnology is vital to counter biological and toxin weapons. Without biotechnology, the detection, identification and diagnoses of, and medical countermeasures to such weapons would be virtually impossible. As biological and toxin agents occur in natural outbreaks of disease or intoxications, there are both civil and military benefit to be had from the use of biotechnology in providing effective countermeasures to such agents.
The role of biotechnology in countering biological and toxin weapons is here addressed under seven major headings:

• The wider political and economic contexts;
• Enabling technologies for BTW agent detection;
• The applicability of biotechnological methods for BTW agent detection on the battlefield, in a terrorist incident, and in an inspection environment;
• Pre-exposure medical countermeasures;
• Diagnosis and identification;
• Post-exposure treatment and decontamination;
• Contribution of biotechnology to strengthening international conventions against BTW agents.

• Biosensor
• DNA
• biotechnology
• genes
• reaction

• Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  Alexander Kelle

• Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK

  Malcolm R. Dando

• Institute for Microbiology and Genetics, Technical University Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

  Kathryn Nixdorff

Policies and ethics