Posted on 08/15/2009 11:19:10 PM PDT by Schnucki
Dirty bombs are one of the biggest threats to the world's urban populations. Now an American molecular biologist has developed a drug that may protect against the effects of radioactivity. Military officials are thrilled, and the discoverers could make billions.
On Friday afternoons, as the Sabbath approaches and the sun hangs low in the sky over the Mediterranean, the Restaurant Turquoise north of Tel Aviv is a carefree oasis. Every seat in the place is taken, and the crowd is in high spirits.
Only one patron, Yacov Reizman, seems serious as he glances at a stack of documents -- a study recently published by the United States Department of Homeland Security -- on the table in front of him. Using a hypothetical scenario, the study describes the medical consequences of a terrorist attack involving a radioactive bomb in a major American city. It concludes that tens of thousands would be killed immediately, while hundreds of thousands more would sustain fatal injuries through the resulting radioactive fallout.
The results would be even more dramatic, says Reizman, in a small country like Israel, where practically the entire population would be affected within only a few hours.
But Reizman, a former fighter pilot in the Israeli air force, claims to have a miracle weapon against such nuclear catastrophes. His company, Cleveland Biolabs, has developed a drug that is designed to protect people against the often deadly consequences of nuclear radiation.
According to Reizman, a simple injection is all it takes. A few days ago, the New York businessman returned to his native country to present his invention to Israeli security officials.
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
I wonder if this could be used in cancer treatment to prevent the dangerous side effects of radiation treatment, while still being able to kill the cancer. Imagine if we could find a way to protect healthy immune cells while still cooking the cancer cells?
GREAT ARTICLE. Thanks for posting this Schnucki.
Go to the article link LukeL and read the whole article... it does mention cancer.
This is interesting
It is
I saw portions of the video and its very scary. And most of those nations are actively searching for WMDs.It is nice to have an alternative to potassium iodide.
” Military officials are thrilled, and the discoverers could make billions.”
Does this mean there are plans for nuclear war? Why else would military officials be thrilled?
“It is nice to have an alternative to potassium iodide.”
BIG Ditto.
Its better than the normal radiation pill
2) Would any of this be covered under ObamaCare? (Either routinely, as an after-therapy care, or after a deadly bomb exploded? (After all, if the government didn't already have it in its list of approved medicines and practices, does it really exist at all?
3) Note that nowhere in the story is the Iranian attack on Israel “noted” directly nor is the likelihood of a Muslim attack on the US really accepted. DHS funded part of the the paper TALKING about the nuclear dirty bombs, but the medicine is privately developed.
4) Nuclear plant problems? Standby for an accident in that industry?
Is the guy still looking for ‘investors’?
Have you ever tasted Potassium Iodide.It like eating pure salt. In fact, that is what it is.
This isn't 1960 when we could hope for a nuclear standoff between great nations that would keep it from happening.
This is a half century later when everyone either has bombs or will have them at some point.
Nuclear bombs in America is inevitable, we just don't know if it will be tonight or five, or fifteen years from now.
It's "hypothetical" all right. In fact it's SO hypothetical that it can't happen. A "dirty bomb" is usually considered to be a batch of radioisotopes dispersed by standard explosives. The "spread" of the radiation simply will NOT cause the level of damage mentioned--only a true nuke will do it.
What would the suggested dose of Potassium Iodide do to someone with hypertension?
But it does have a psychological effect and it can cause long term deaths from cancer.
So did flying two airplanes into the WTC. But the real truth is that the TRUE severity of a chemical-explosive driven radioactivity bomb is miniscule. A REAL nuke, OTOH, would be quite serious.
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