Posted on 06/16/2006 7:01:26 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
(Daily Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) URGENT calls have been made for the law to be changed to stop ingredients for deadly biological weapons being bought over the Internet.
A shocking investigation has exposed how elements of the deadly smallpox virus can be purchased online then delivered through the post in Britain.
It is feared terrorists could use the same tactics to create a biological weapon.
Concern over the potential risk to public health last night prompted calls for the law to be changed to close current loopholes.
Smallpox is one of the biggest killers in history, having claimed at least 300million lives in the 20th century alone.
The virus was eradicated in 1977 but samples of it still exist in guarded laboratories in Russia and the U.S.
But now it has emerged that individuals posing as scientists can readily obtain sequences of smallpox DNA via the Internet . The Guardian newspaper ordered a 78-letter sequence of smallpox DNA - with three modifications to make it harmless - from VH Bio Ltd of Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a company that supplies microbiology products.
The newspaper provided the name of a made-up company and provided only a residential address and mobile phone number.
VH Bio Ltd, queried the address but was told the company was moving offices and wanted to ensure it received the package.
Apparently satisfied, it put the vial containing the sequence in the post and it was delivered by Royal Mail.
The full genome for smallpox is 185,000 letters long and so a terrorist would need to order a whole string of sequences to put them together to make the virus.
Although not a task that could be performed by one person acting alone, a wellfunded terrorist organisation with access to a lab and PhDlevel personnel could do it.
There are legitimate reasons why researchers might buy lengths of DNA to help develop new treatments or vaccines and, because the industry is so new, it is largely unregulated.
Selling a sequence of a potentially deadly virus such 'Delivered by Royal Mail' as smallpox therefore does not break any UK laws.
Phil Willis, chairman of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, yesterday led calls for this to be remedied.
'It is totally unacceptable that there is this massive loophole,' he said.
'I have written to the Government today to say this issue needs to be addressed urgently.' He had believed the industry supplying custom-made DNA was covered by the same strict rules that apply to human tissue and was alarmed to find otherwise.
John Eldridge, editor of Jane's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence magazine, said current regulations came under the terms of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, an agreed treaty, but relied on companies monitoring themselves.
He added: 'The science to manufacture viruses from scratch only came to light in 2002 but the law has not caught up and there is no legislation to monitor who it is sold to.' Dr Alan Volkers, chairman of VH Bio said: 'The order that was placed by the journalist was inconsequential and would not enable anyone to create the smallpox virus.' He said it would be impossible to screen every order, but pointed out: 'There are no regulations that require us to make background checks on our customers or to screen our orders.'
Tighter laws needed on sale of DNA samples, says research chief
James Randerson, science correspondent
Thursday June 15, 2006
The Guardian
One of the country's leading scientists yesterday called on the government to draw up new laws to regulate companies that sell DNA samples which could be used to manufacture a biological weapon.Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council, said foolproof protection was needed to prevent potentially dangerous material getting into the wrong hands. His comments were endorsed by other senior scientists and follow a Guardian investigation that revealed the ease with which a potential terrorist could buy such materials on the internet. The Guardian was able to order a small fragment of DNA from the variola virus, the virus that causes smallpox.
"It is obviously a worry that fragments of a potentially very dangerous pathogen can be obtained as easily as your investigation suggests," said Professor Blakemore. "This is one area where legislation or new regulation might be appropriate."
Article continues
"Although not a task that could be performed by one person acting alone, a wellfunded terrorist organisation with access to a lab and PhDlevel personnel could do it."
It would take more than that to "assemble" a smallpox virus. However, if some of the "sequences" available for purchase were for genes coding for virulence factors. Then it might be feasible to use them to recombine with other viruses and other microbes to make something different.
However, I will speculate that the DNA "sequences" that can be purchased are those that code for the viruses protein capsid, which is what is needed to make vaccines. Capsid proteins does not a virus make.
If one wants to be afraid of biowarfare, then I would say they are wise. However, fear something that is a true concern. I suggest reading Judith Miller's book "Germs."
Stephen Hawkins was spot on.
john titor was right!!!!!!!
time travel does come in handy :)
Yes, it will have, wasn't it?
Thanks for the ping.
Here I am, still stuck with looking for just middlepox virus.
DNA Isolation KitNot that you could assemble DNA with this, but I was shocked to see DNA isolation kits being sold as children's toys! Amazing world we live in.
Learn to isolate DNA material from food and vegetables found in your refrigerator! After isolating the DNA in a test tube, continue the experimentation. Contains 5 test tubes, 5 pipettes, 5 extraction plates, 1 string chromosome, lysis reagent, precipitation reagent (denatured alcohol), and instructions. Ages 9 and up. Because of alcohol, parent supervision advised.
Apparently satisfied, it put the vial containing the sequence in the post and it was delivered by Royal Mail.The full genome for smallpox is 185,000 letters long and so a terrorist would need to order a whole string of sequences to put them together to make the virus.
I would think that it would be easier and cheaper to just build a nuke. Replicating DNA from a map isn't exactly like building a model airplane, even with a team of geneticists and a how-to manual.
A few years ago a group of biologists created functioning polio viruses from just the publish DNA sequences.
Not really, and the medical supplies fly below radar, as there are more legit uses.
Genjiie is already out of the bottle.
LOL!!
What I was getting at is that the manufacturing of a nuclear weapon doesn't even require a physicist anymore. If the bad guys have all the parts ( the toughest part), manufacturing the weapon itself is a matter of following existing schematics. Nukes are remarkably simple weapons, securing the weapons grade uranium has always been the hard part.
On the other hand, the average Joe can't build a virus in their garage with an RNA map. You could give ol' Akmed the nucleic acids and the map, but he would have no idea how the hell to put it together, how the sequence should be constructed, converting RNA to DNA and then back to RNA, ect. You really need a person who knows what the heck they are doing, and unless that person is building the sequence by hand, he would need a genetics lab with DNA databases and sequencing machines to construct it.
It took 300K for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to make polio. And most of that was probably the geneticists paychecks. On the other hand, a weapons case for a nuke can be manufactured using tools found in any metalwork manufacturing facility. A terrorist doesn't need to dump money into uranium enrichment research to actually make the bomb, they only have to find that state/insider willing to supply them with the parts they need. That was the thought process I had based my original statement on.
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