The Soviet biological warfare program and its uncertain legacy.
Past Soviet secrecy when linked with a promise by Putin raise nagging questions about Russian BW-related intentionsRaymond A. Zilinskas
Microbe, 2014. 9, 191-197.
RZ is Director of Chemical & Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, California
The paper is interesting and relevant for two reasons. The first is that some of the work undertaken during the second generation of Russian biological warfare (1972-94) is the equivalent of gain of function virus research.
“The Soviet second-generation BW program had two components, codenamed Ferment and Ekology. Ferment was mandated to weaponize pathogens for use against humans, while Ekology weaponized animal and plant pathogens. Both components were set up to apply genetic engineering techniques to enhance the ability of pathogens to cause infections, to increase the virulence of pathogens, to endow them with new capabilities for circumventing or defeating defenses against them, including vaccines, antibiotics, and detection techniques, and to develop new genetic constructs that caused unique symptoms. It bears noting that in today’s parlance these kinds of experiments are termed “gain of function” experiments.”
Reversing the argument based on cold war logic leads to the conclusion that contemporary GOF influenza virus experiments are de facto the equivalent of biological warfare research. Accordingly, if this work had been performed in some military lab in the West and had been leaked to the press, it is probable that there would have been uproar with headlines like “Weaponizing avian flu”.
The second reason why this article is worth reading is the suggestion that Russia might engage on a new round of biological warfare research.
