The BMA has warned that the possibility of developing weapons genetically targeted at different ethnic groups could be just five years away.
Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of health policy research at the BMA, said, “It is important to emphasise that we are talking about technology and information that is becoming available now and will be available in the next few years. We have a window of opportunity before such weapons can realistically be manufactured.”
The BMA is particularly concerned about the use of information from the Human Genome Project and the Human Diversity Project. These research projects, set to be completed in 2003, aim to unlock the key to the human genome and to determine why certain diseases affect only certain ethnic groups. Such information could be used for targeting biological weapons at particular ethnic groups.
“Scientific advances quickly lead to developments in weapons technology. Biotechnology and genetic knowledge are equally open to this type of malign use,” said Professor Nathanson. “It would be a tragedy if in 10 years’ time the world faces the reality of genetically engineered weapons.”
Currently, biological weapons are governed by the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, which has been signed by 158 countries. Many states and individual organisations have flouted the legislation. These include states in the former Soviet Union, which admitted running a covert weapons programme until 1992; the Iraqi government, which has been working on biological weapons; and the Aum Shinrikyo sect in Japan, which sought to develop genetically enhanced bacteria.
The report warns that the pattern of scientific development is such that formulating effective control systems for biological and genetic weapons within the next five to 10 years will be crucial to world security.
It recommends that the international community should aim to strengthen current legislation by including verification procedures and measures to ensure compliance with the agreement among the signatory countries.
However, implementation of a verification procedure could cost as much as £63m ($100m) annually to enforce.
Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity (Harwood, ISBN′ 90 5702 4608) is available from the BMJ Bookshop (tel: 0171 383 6244) price £14.
Figure.
Chemical weapons in Iraq are inspected by UNSCOM