Home>News Center>World
         
 

New 'Manhattan project' to fight bioterror
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-29 11:48

The world needs an effort similar to that behind the creation of the atomic bomb to tackle the multi-faceted threat of biowarfare, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Thursday.

"We need to do something that even dwarfs the Manhattan project," Frist told the World Economic Forum  in Davos. The Manhattan project was the codename for the United States's World War II effort to devise an atomic weapon.

"The greatest existential threat we have in the world today is biological. Why? Because unlike any other threat it has the power of panic and paralysis to be global."


Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tenn. gestures while speaking during a panel discussion 'Biological Threats to Societies' at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday Jan. 27, 2005. [AP]

He predicted that the world would experience another bioweapon attack within the next decade, following the limited casualties seen when anthrax was sent through the U.S. mail system in 2001.

Next time, the death rate could be a much, much higher, said Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor John Deutch.

An attack using the smallpox virus is overwhelmingly the largest risk, he believes.

The disease was officially eradicated three decades ago but Deutch said it was possible former Soviet stocks were still at large or even that small quantities could be extracted from graves.

"Every country has a vulnerability here," he said.

In a bid to protect citizens, the U.S. government has ordered millions of doses of smallpox vaccine as part of a wide-ranging security drive in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Other governments are also following suit in stocking up on smallpox shots. But experts warned that other avenues were open to would-be terrorists, with diseases such as plague and Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus options for weaponisation.

More worryingly still, sophisticated groups might in the future use genetic engineering to produce hybrid microbes against which there are no defenses.

Francis Collins, director of the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute, said such developments raised the question of whether there should be restrictions on publication of some scientific research in biology.

Physicists are already limited from sharing information on atomic weapons technology.

Collins said openness was the best strategy but he suggested there could be specific information about protocols used to create dangerous super-bugs that might, in future, be classified.



 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Mainland considers talking with Taiwan's Chen Shui-bian

 

   
 

Nonstop cross-Straits charter flights start

 

   
 

Guangdong becomes most populous province

 

   
 

Remains of Zhao Ziyang cremated

 

   
 

Psychology service for the rich

 

   
 

New 'Manhattan project' to fight bioterror

 

   
  Bush praises Rice at swearing-in ceremony
   
  Tsunami relief inadequate in many areas
   
  Palestinian police deploy in Gaza Strip
   
  Al-Zarqawi associates arrested in Iraq
   
  France worried about terrorism at home
   
  Iraqi expatriates begin voting in US
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产亚洲第一页| 久久人妻少妇嫩草av蜜桃| 亚洲国产精品线观看不卡| 亚洲蜜芽在线精品一区| 亚洲人jizz| 亚洲a∨精品一区二区三区下载| 久久久久久久岛国免费播放| 久久久久久a亚洲欧洲AV| www.夜夜操.com| eeuss影院在线奇兵区1页| 东京道一本热中文字幕| 中文字幕巨大乳在线看| 99资源在线观看| 韩国理论片久久电影网| 男人扒开女人下面狂躁动漫版| 最近最新中文字幕2018中文字幕mv | jizz之18| 国产99在线|亚洲| 百合潮湿的欲望| 欧美黑人xxxx性高清版| 欧美国产日本高清不卡| 春日野结衣女女| 成年女人黄小视频| 太粗太深了用力点视频| 国产青青在线视频| 国产福利不卡视频| 免费精品一区二区三区在线观看| 人人揉人人捏人人添| 免费高清日本1在线观看| 亚洲三级在线播放| a级毛片免费高清视频| 舞蹈班的三个小女孩唐嫣| 杨幂13分20秒未删减bt| 成年免费A级毛片免费看无码| 国产精品免费久久久久电影网| 人妻av一区二区三区精品| 中文字幕亚洲一区二区三区| 一二三四国语在线观看视频 | 大战孕妇12p| 国产精品麻豆高清在线观看| 另类视频在线观看|