It is also on the rise! (smacking self)
Now -now! There'll be no self-mutilation on this thread (laughing).
Secretive new bioweapons facility under construction
Snip: On the grounds of a military base an hour's drive from the capital, the Bush administration is building a massive biodefense laboratory unlike any seen since biological weapons were banned 34 years ago.
The heart of the lab is a cluster of sealed chambers built to contain the world's deadliest bacteria and viruses. There, scientists will spend their days simulating the unthinkable: bioterrorism attacks in the form of lethal anthrax spores rendered as wispy powders that can drift for miles on a summer breeze, or common viruses turned into deadly superbugs that ordinary drugs and vaccines cannot stop.
Managers of the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center say it will explore the consequences of biological attacks, at times by simulating or creating small amounts of biological agents to study how to defend against them. Some research priorities suggested in government documents:
* "Weaponized" pathogens: Microbes, such as anthrax spores, pictured above, that have been converted into a fine powder or other form that can be easily spread.
* Novel delivery systems: Modern techniques and devices that can disperse viruses and bacteria over a wide area.
* Genetically engineered threats: Pathogens that have been genetically altered to make them more virulent or harder to defeat.