Rapid advances in
genetics could make terrifying "ethnic cleansing" weapons a reality within
ten years, doctors have warned. Genetic biological weapons would be able to
target particular ethnic groups by homing in on the molecular differences
between, for example, blacks and whites or Arabs and Jews. The death-dealing
viral or bacterial agent would be activated only in the presence of a
specific set of genetic "markers". A built-in "clock" could even ensure that
such a weapon switched itself off once the job was done - for instance after
wiping out a city or region inhabited by the targeted ethnic group. It
sounds like science fiction. But experts from the British Medical
Association yesterday warned early versions of such weapons could exist in
five years. Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's head of health policy research,
said: "Getting rid of weapons once they are produced is very difficult. "We
still have the chance to strengthen the ban on these weapons. We must do so
now and we must make sure the ban is policed effectively." Ironically, the
new terror weapons would be spin-offs from advances in medicine which will
save countless lives. Two key developments were highlighted by the experts.
One is the Human Genome Project, which aims to map the entire human genetic
blueprint by 2003. The other is gene therapy, a technology still in its
infancy, which uses "vectors" such as harmless viruses to carry corrective
DNA into malfunctioning cells. Professor Malcolm Dando from the Department
of Peace Studies at Bradford University, author of the BMA report
Biotechnology Weapons and Humanity published yesterday, said: "The
development of molecular medicine based on our new understanding of genomics
will allow a vast range of new weaponry to be developed. "Among that range
could be biological weapons specifically targeted at particular ethnic
groups." The BMA called for strengthening of the Biological and Toxin
Weapons Convention agreed in 1972 to stop the spread of biological and
chemical weapons. Doctors were especially anxious to see effective
verification procedures introduced to ensure compliance. An ethnic weapon
would work using a biological agent genetically engineered to target
cellular molecular sites specific to certain races, or even DNA sequences
inside cells. Only in the presence of these "markers" would they be
activated. Genetic engineering would also enable more stable, efficient, and
drug- resistant strains of bacterial or viral weapons to be created. The
fact that future biological weapons would be so much more precise and
reliable than they are now would increase the chances of them being used,
doctors warned. One of the greatest dangers was terrorist groups getting
their hands on such weapons. Equipment advances would make them relatively
easy to produce from small, high-tech laboratories.
COPYRIGHT 1999 Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd.
