Killer Virus Could Lead to Devastating Bioweapons
Without meaning to, Australian scientists have created a virus that could lead to the most devastating bioweapon ever devised.
The scientists were trying to create a mouse contraceptive vaccine to use for pest control. They worked with mousepox, with doesn?t affect humans but is related to the smallpox virus. “It?s a good way to show how to alter smallpox to make it more virulent,” says Ken Alibek, of the Soviet germ warfare program.
D.A. Henderson, director of the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at Johns Hopkins University points out that information that can be used for making dangerous microorganisms is regularly published in scientific journals. “I can?t for the life of me figure out how we are going to deal with this,” he says.
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