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JLK
Joined: 17 Apr 2002
Posts: 3915
Location: East Coast USA
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 Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2004 5:33 pm Post subject: Ethnically Specific Bioweapons: 21st Century Horror |
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I've mentioned this disturbing possibility in the past, but I think this topic deserves a thread of its own.
The possibility of genetically engineered bioweapons that target groups sharing a common DNA marker (i.e. all humans with brown eyes) is more than science fiction. With the mapping of the human genome, it represents an imminent thread to the future of the human species. In my opinion, such bioweapons will turn out to be the greatest horror of the century that has just begun.
Biological weapon threat looms larger
| Quote: | Describing the "riotous" progress in the biotechnology industry on Tuesday, the report concluded that the world may soon face horrific dangers should yet more advances continue unchecked.
Biotechnology is already near a stage where devastating diseases can be recreated and illnesses created that could target specific ethnic groups, says the study's author. |
A lone Cassandra? Hardly. In the late 1990's the neocon Project for a New American Century (PNAC) provided the following recommendation in their manifest Rebuilding America's Defenses:
| Quote: | | ...advanced forms of biological warfare that can 'target' specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool. |
There have been reports that certain countries have already made efforts to develop such weapons:
| Quote: | | On November 15, 1998, the London Times reported that Israel claimed to have successfully developed a genetically specific "ethnic bullet" that targets Arabs. When an Israeli government spokesman was asked to confirm the existence of ethnic weapons, he did not deny that they had them, but rather said, "we have a basket full of serious surprises that we will not hesitate to use if we feel that the state of Israel is under serious threat." |
The Internet journal From the Wilderness has also reported on the topic:
Unholy Grail: The Quest for Genetic Weapons
| Kellia Ramares wrote: | | Research that could be used to develop ethnic weapons has historically been based upon natural susceptibilities, or upon the absence of vaccination within a target group. Genetic engineering of biological agents, to make them more potent, has been carried out covertly for some years, but not as an overt step to produce more effective weapons. In genetic terms there are more similarities between different people and peoples than there are differences. But the differences exist, and may singly or in combination distinguish the members of one social group (an "ethnic" group) from another. |
According to FTW, in 1996 Dr. Vivienne Nathanson, the British Medical Association's (BMA) Head of Science and Ethics told a congress of the World Medical Association that ethnically targeted genetic weapons were now possible, and she cited as example the possibility of designing an agent that could sterilize or pass on a lethal hereditary defect in specific ethnic groups.
The Federation of American Scientist has posted a declassified CIA report on the future of bioweapons in pdf format. While it doesn't discuss the ethic targeting issue, it provides some frightening examples of what these pathogen could be designed to do.
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A person hears only what they understand.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
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Dionysus
Joined: 25 Jan 2004
Posts: 217
Location: Canberra, Australia
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| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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JLK,
The possibility of these sorts of weapons makes more urgent the need to develop international law and to give up some of the lunacy associated with national boundaries, religion and patriotism. Shame the world is currently going in the opposite direction.
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“The most common of all follies, is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.”
H. L. Mencken |
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FC Mellon
Joined: 15 Apr 2002
Posts: 4404
Location: SoCal
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| Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 12:33 am Post subject: Legalize Freedom..Legalize Life..Legalize Peace.. |
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Dionysus wrote: | Quote: | The possibility of these sorts of weapons makes more urgent the need to develop international law and to give up some of the lunacy associated with national boundaries, religion and patriotism. Shame the world is currently going in the opposite direction.
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TRUE!!
..but what is maybe even greater lunancy is to keep inventing weapons which need even more international laws to insure we don't kill each other off faster than we can legislate our futures. 
Shame the world is currently going in the opposite direction.
p.s. ...it is not the boundaries, religion and partiotism which bothers me so much as it is the need to kill each other to insure we have these options in our lives. 
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elitism--humanity's greatest enemy and greatest regret... |
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