Beefing up the bioweapons treaty
نویسنده
چکیده
Alongside support for renewed funding for microbiological research, many scientists are also backing a greater role for international agreements to control potential biological weapons. But such efforts present considerable challenges. One of Britain's leading microbiologists, Hugh Pennington at Aberdeen University, has written of the ease of obtaining agents such as anthrax. " In principle any doctor, dentist, vet, microbiology graduate or hospital microbiology lab technologist could produce it. " Even creating 'weapons-grade' material isn't difficult, he says. Nonetheless, other researchers believe that seeking strengthened international agreements is a way forward. Brian Heap, vice-president of Britain's science academy, the Royal Society, has written in an editorial for Science, that the current Biological Weapons Convention, signed by 144 states, offers an important opportunity. Meeting earlier this month, the fifth review meeting of the 1972 BWC offers a chance to bolster controls and gain consensus on the most effective means of reinforcing the ban. " It is not possible for any single nation to protect itself fully from the malign use of biological agents without complementary action by all other countries, " says Heap. He cites the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) as an example to follow. Now in its fourth year of full implementation, the CWC demonstrates that international instruments can be put into practice, he says. Unlike the BWC, the CWC provides an elaborate international verification system, which applies to both military facilities for chemical weapons defence and to the civil manufacturing industry, he says. " Likewise, full cooperation with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries is essential to any verification system for an international instrument banning biological weapons. " Many researchers believe they can play their part in implementing such an instrument by providing the tools for diagnosis and detection and countermeasures, including novel vaccines and better computer models to elucidate the source and dissemination of infectious agents. However the Geneva meeting got off to a rocky start, says Oliver Meyer, an observer from the non-governmental organisation, Vertic. " Some countries such as the US are sceptical that international agreement is the way forward in tackling these weapons, " he says. But with the still bewildering anthrax attacks in the US, many still see collaboration and the BWC platform as a key way forward.
منابع مشابه
Bioterrorism and Intelligence
The potential for bioterrorism has increased within the last 10 years; however, there are mixed arguments among critics as to how serious the president and Congress view this threat. The first question the intelligence community needs to ask is “Is the United States prepared for a biological attack?” Three areas need to be examined: the historical background of biological attacks, types of biow...
متن کاملImpact of - Peace Treaty on Psychological Well - being . A Follow - up
The article reports the impact of Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty, children's perception of it/ the amount of traumatic experiences, and their personal resources on their self-esteem and neuroticism . The sample is a follow-up group of 64 i, Palestinian children of 11-12 years of age, living in theGaza Strip , The results showed that the level of neuroticism 'was significantly lower after the ...
متن کاملThe impact of the peace treaty on psychological well-being: a follow-up study of Palestinian children.
This research examined the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty and Palestinian children's perception of it on their self-esteem and neuroticism. We also studied the relative importance of earlier exposure to traumatic experiences and psychosocial resources indicated by the children's creativity, intelligence and political activity in influencing their psychological well-being after t...
متن کاملThe Non-Aligned Movement and Nuclear Disarmament: Stance and Actions
The emergence of nuclear weapons as a new actor in international relations has introduced a new area in the international security arena. Since the appearance of these weapons, there have been increasing efforts to limit and destroy them in order to achieve global peace in the framework of disarmament and centered around the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Along with the eme...
متن کاملPlanetary science. Can NASA's Promethean vision bring back heavenly data?
Casagrande. He and other inspectors looked for evidence such as signs that large trucks had been present at a biological site. But it was like chasing phantoms: Apart from a handful of foreign catalogs depicting mobile platforms, they found nothing to indicate that the movable beasts existed, the veteran inspector says. Even if there were mobile labs, Gläser doubts that they could produce subst...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
- Current Biology
دوره 11 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2001