Fw: [september_eleven_vreeland] Ethnically-specific biological weapons

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september_eleven_vreeland

Sunday, November 02, 2003 6:42 PM

[september_eleven_vreeland] Ethnically-specific biological weapons

Ethnically-specific biological weapons An analysis of human genome data reveals that ethnically-specific genetic markers do exist(Briefing paper extracted from Emerging Technologies: Genetic Engineering and Biological Weapons, Sunshine Project Backgrounder #12, October 2003, forthcoming)This paper presents the results of a Sunshine Project analysis of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data contained in public databases and discusses how this and emerging technologies to utilize it may enable development of weapons that target populations that have a high frequency of specific genetic profiles.From the Introduction:Conventional and current wisdom holds that population specific biological weapons are practically and theoretically impossible. At a practical level, many scientists consider it impossibly difficult to use genetic variability to create a weapon capable of killing or otherwise harming a specific population. Other scientists, including many geneticists, argue that no suitable "ethnic genes" exist in the first place. Both notions are wrong.Genes do not create culture; but genetic sequences can and do appear in frequencies that significantly vary between ethnic groups. New technologies are available to translate specific genetic sequences into markers or triggers for biological activity. And a recent analysis of human genome data in public databases revealed that hundreds, possibly thousands, of target sequences for ethnically-specific weapons do indeed exist. It appears that ethnically-specific biological weapons may well become possible in the near future. The recent finding that severe cases of SARS in Taiwan were associated with a specific human genetic profile is another indication that infectious diseases - natural or man-made - can act with specificity along genetic and ethnic borders.Like other bioweapons, those that target specific population groups do not need to be deadly in order to be effective. They might cause incapacitation, illness, sterility, permanent fatigue, or any other non-fatal condition is desirable from an aggressor's perspective. They may be used in an all out war - on the battlefield or against civilian populations - or they may be used in covert operations for immediate or long-term effects, in order to destabilise, economically damage or otherwise weaken an enemy society.more at:http://www.sunshine-project.org/publications/others/snpbw.html