An Evaluation of Bioregulators/Modulators as Terrorism and Warfare Agents

Abstract

Bioregulators or modulators are biochemical compounds, such as peptides, that occur naturally in organisms. Advances in biotechnology thus create the potential for the misuse of peptide bioregulators in offensive biological weapons programmes. They are new class of weapons that can damage nervous system, alter moods, trigger psychological changes and kill. Within neuroscience over the last twenty years has been an explosion of knowledge about the receptor systems on nerve cells that are of critical importance in receiving the chemical transmitter substances released by other nerve cells. The potential military or terrorism use of bioregulators is similar to that of toxins. Together with increased research into toxins, the bioregulators have also been studied and synthesized. This paper presents evaluation of bioregulators that can be used as terrorism delivery system or biological agents in hostile activities.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA484086

Entities

People

  • Slavko Bokan
  • Zvonko Orehovec

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Biological Factors
  • Blood
  • Cardiovascular Diseases
  • Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena
  • Cardiovascular System
  • Cells
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemistry
  • Endocrine Glands
  • Health Services
  • Peptides
  • Proteins

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Critical Infrastructure Protection in CBRN and WMD Threats.
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Neuroscience

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Biotechnology - Cancer Biotech