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Evo
Staff Emeritus
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Could Insects Be Used as Bioweapons?
April 8 — Sonny Ramaswamy is trying to walk a very fine line. He doesn't want to be seen as an alarmist, but he thinks people ought to know about the thought that keeps haunting him these days.
Ramaswamy, who chairs the department of entomology at Kansas State University, is concerned that the tiny little insects he has spent a lifetime studying could become implements of international terrorism.
It's possible, he says, that even a stable fly, or something as tiny as an aphid, could be used to distribute deadly pathogens over a wide geographical area in a surprisingly rapid and efficient manner. Bugs as delivery systems for weapons of mass terror.
"It wouldn't be as spectacular as the World Trade Center," he says, "but it would be more insidious."
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/SciTech/DyeHard/insects_terrorism_dyehard_040408-1.html
April 8 — Sonny Ramaswamy is trying to walk a very fine line. He doesn't want to be seen as an alarmist, but he thinks people ought to know about the thought that keeps haunting him these days.
Ramaswamy, who chairs the department of entomology at Kansas State University, is concerned that the tiny little insects he has spent a lifetime studying could become implements of international terrorism.
It's possible, he says, that even a stable fly, or something as tiny as an aphid, could be used to distribute deadly pathogens over a wide geographical area in a surprisingly rapid and efficient manner. Bugs as delivery systems for weapons of mass terror.
"It wouldn't be as spectacular as the World Trade Center," he says, "but it would be more insidious."
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/SciTech/DyeHard/insects_terrorism_dyehard_040408-1.html
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, I saw something similar on The Science Channel. Apparently some scientists are playing with the idea of designer mosquito's that provide immunizations with every bite. The idea that this approach could be used to design a bio-weapon was mentioned as well. In fact...I just remembered seeing some previously classified footage about bio warfare during the Korean War. The statement was made that we [the US] had spread anthrax laden maggots over troops in N Korea. I don't know if this is true...it may have been some kind of propaganda film from N Korea, but in either case it seems that the idea is not completely new. 
