Biotechnology is vital to counter biological and toxin weapons. Without biotechnology, the detection, identification and diagnoses of, and medical countermeasures to such weapons would be virtually impossible. As biological and toxin agents occur in natural outbreaks of disease or intoxications, there are both civil and military benefit to be had from the use of biotechnology in providing effective countermeasures to such agents.
The role of biotechnology in countering biological and toxin weapons is here addressed under seven major headings:

• The wider political and economic...

Scientific and technological is currently transforming the problem of preventing biological warfare and biological terrorism. Examples from the areas of immunology, the neurosciences and the neuroendocrine-immune system are used to show the magnitude of the problem. The book outlines the measures required to control biochemical weapons today.

Preventing a Biochemical Arms Race responds to a growing concern that changes in the life sciences and the nature of warfare could lead to a resurgent interest in chemical and biological weapons (CBW) capabilities. By bringing together a wide range of historical material and current literature in the field of CBW arms control, the book reveals how these two disparate fields might be integrated to precipitate a biochemical arms race among major powers, rogue states, or even non-state actors. It seeks to raise awareness among policy practitioners, the academic community, and the media...