[Shadow_Group] Fw: Gene wars only a few years away, say doctors

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infowars.net

Gene wars only a few years away, say doctors


London Times| Oct 26 2004



There is concern that bio-weapons could be programmed to wipe out
specific ethnic groups within five years

GENETICALLY targeted weapons capable of ethnic cleansing could become a
reality within five years because the "window of opportunity" to tackle
their development is shrinking fast, doctors said yesterday. 
The warning comes after a report by the British Medical Association
(BMA), which stated that within a decade genetic research would unleash
new and terrifying biological weapons capable of killing only people of
specific ethnic groups. 

Since the publication of the BMA's first study five years ago, the
association believes that governments have failed to halt the advance of
biological and genetic weapons technology. 

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and ethics at the BMA, said: "The
situation today is arguably worse than when we published our last report.


"The very existence of international laws to protect us is being
questioned, the anthrax attacks in the US in 2001 caused widespread panic
and fear and, most worryingly, it's never been easier to develop
biological weapons. All you have to do is look on the internet." 

Scientists are making great progress in identifying the human genetic
code. BMA doctors are worried that legitimate research, often conducted
to find potential therapies for debilitating diseases, could be perverted
to develop weapons of mass destruction. 

The author of the report, Malcolm Dando, head of Peace Studies at the
University of Bradford, has studied arms control for 20 years. "Every
major piece of scientific research has been used for malign purposes," he
said. 

"If the life sciences are misused, there are major threats to human
rights, human dignity and human safety." 

Although the BMA insisted that genetic weapons have yet to be built, it
conceded that their construction "is now approaching reality". If a
genetic bomb was developed, it could contain anthrax or the plague and be
tailored to activate when it identified a certain group of genes -
indicating membership of a particular ethnic group - in the infected
person. 

"Questions need to be asked about where the research could lead, where
the results will be published and who has access to the data," Professor
Dando said. 

He also gave warning that the threat from biological weapons has
outstripped that of chemical and nuclear weapons because of the "riotous"
development in biotechnology. 

"Unless great care is taken to ensure openness about the vastly increased
funding going into the US and other biodefence programmes, suspicions
could easily arise and inadvertently help to fuel an arms race which
would be in all our worst interests", his report, Biotechnology, Weapons
and Humanity II, published yesterday, stated. 

Professor Dando added that if biological advances continue unabated, then
terrorists could misuse the research to wreak widespread havoc and
destruction. 

The reluctance of the United States to agree a multilateral approach to
biological monitoring has hampered the international community's attempts
to stop the spread of biological, chemical and genetic weapons, he said. 

"The US took their eye off the ball during the Clinton Administration.
There were clearly inter-agency differences; therefore, although we had
announcements that were in favour of strengthening existing agreements,
they didn't take a leadership role." 

In 1975 the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) was set up to
try to provide protection from the proliferation of biological weapons.
Calls in 1999 to strengthen the convention "failed abysmally" after the
US Government claimed that imposing controls on biotechnology would
interfere with benign research being carried out. As a result, the United
States pulled out of international talks aimed at boosting the BTWC in
2001. 

Yesterday the BMA urged governments around the world to find a way to
strengthen up the convention. The doctors also called for scientists to
realise the potential risks and responsibilities of their cutting edge
work. 

Dr Nathanson said: "This report does not make comfortable reading, but it
is essential that governments take action on this issue now. If we wait
too long it will be virtually impossible to defend ourselves."

 
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