Requested Re-post from our evesdrift.com site, on the horrifying potential of a certain type of disease vaccine engineering.

New Scientist issue: 13th January 2001 ( Historical )

An engineered mouse virus leaves us one step away from the ultimate bioweapon

A VIRUS that kills every one of its victims, by wiping out part of their immune system, has been accidentally created by an Australian research team. The virus, a modified mousepox, does not affect humans, but it is closely related to smallpox, raising fears that the technology could be used in biowarfare.

The discovery highlights a growing problem. How do you stop terrorists taking legitimate research and adapting it for their own nefarious purposes?

The Australian researchers had no intention of producing a killer virus. They were merely trying to make a mouse contraceptive vaccine for pest control. “But it’s a good way to show how to alter smallpox to make it more virulent,” says Ken Alibek, former second-in-command of the civilian branch of the Soviet germ-warfare programme.

Read More : evesdrift.com

Categories: . Biological Warfare, Lethal or Unintended Side Effects, Vaccine, Virus Engineering ( Unclassified )