The two-edged sword: vaccines as weapons

描述（由申请人提供）：恐怖分子对世界贸易中心和五角大楼的袭击，以及明显由恐怖分子驱动的美国邮件被炭疽孢子污染，使美国进入了一个恐怖主义活动在美国领土上的新时代。该项目将综合首席研究员、传染病临床医生和微生物学家的专门知识，以及蒙特雷国际问题研究所在评估利用疫苗技术设计生物武器的潜力方面的专门知识和资源。系统地检索和分析国内外已发表的关于微生物活疫苗的文献，重点是重组技术，以评估重组疫苗技术产生新型生物武器的可能性。此外，将确定恐怖分子获得疫苗技术或目前被恐怖分子使用的可能性，并将制定可推广的战略，以应对与重组疫苗武器有关的医疗和公共卫生挑战。

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.