Medical Defense Against Protein Toxin Weapons
Abstract
The term "toxin weapon" has been used to describe poisons, classically of natural origin but increasingly accessible by modern synthetic methods, which are suitable for delivery on a battlefield in a form that causes death or severe incapacitation at relatively low concentrations. Several of the most important toxin weapons are proteins, and these molecules are the focus of this chapter. Recent technological changes have increased the importance of protein toxins for biological warfare (BW): (a) progress in biotechnology has made large-scale production and purification feasible for a larger number of protein toxins; (b) molecular biology techniques, especially the polymerase chain reaction, have enabled the identification, isolation and comparison of extended families of previously obscure natural toxins; and (c) gene manipulation and microbiology have greatly expanded the accessible delivery vehicles for protein toxins to include, for example, natural or genetically modified bacteria and engineered viruses.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA430058
Entities
People
- Charles B. Millard
Organizations
- United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases