The two-edged sword: vaccines as weapons

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon as well as the apparent terrorist-driven contamination of the U.S. mail with anthrax spores ushered the United States into a new era of terrorist activities on American soil. This project will integrate the expertise of the Principal Investigator, an infectious diseases clinician and microbiologist, and the expertise and resources of the Monterey Institute of International Studies in assessing the potential for the use of vaccine technologies in designing biological weapons. A systematic search and analysis of the published literature, both domestic and foreign, on live microbial vaccines, with a focus on recombinant techniques, will be used to assess the possibilities for recombinant vaccine technology to generate novel new biological weapons. Furthermore, the probability that vaccine techniques are available to or currently employed by terrorists will be determined and generalizable strategies to meet the medical and public health challenges associated with recombinant vaccine weapons will be developed.