Genome projects and gene therapy: gateways to next generation biological weapons.

Genomic and gene therapy research promise important gains into the treatment of human, animal, and plant diseases. However, there is a military aspect to this research that must be recognized. This research enables a new form of biological warfare named genomic warfare. This is the first peer-reviewed scientific article to discuss this threat in-depth. This article advocates that we begin to deal with this threat. Despite that the United States and many signatories of previous bioweapons treaties have agreed not to use biological weapons, mankind has a track record of using all of the weapons at its disposal. This article has a review of the literature and a basic overview of genomic research and gene therapy, which is followed by a discussion of how this therapy can be weaponized. How genomic warfare weapons might be deployed, how deployment may be detected, and the policies and research that would reduce this threat will be described. It is the aim of this article to clearly articulate that this risk exists and to encourage public health, scientific, political, and military leaders to take action to deal with the risk.