The Unknown Limits of Synthetic Biology
        
            By Helia Ighani, 
                Council on Foreign Relations
             | 02. 13. 2015
        
                    
                                    
                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                            
                              
    
  
  
    
  
          
  
      
    
             
  Untitled Document 
  
Since 2001, major metropolitan cities have increasingly conducted gas and chemical attack simulations in subway systems. Police departments carry out these exercises with odorless, colorless, and non-toxic gases to determine how to   evacuate passengers in the event of an actual biological or chemical   attack, and identify safeguards that could be implemented to prevent   potentially catastrophic consequences. 
 
  Demands for these simulations are based on real ambitions by terrorist groups to acquire biological and chemical weapons. Most   recently, a laptop belonging to a member of ISIS (the Islamic State of   Iraq and Syria) was found to contain instructions in Arabic on how to   develop biological weapons and weaponize the bubonic plague from infected animals. The nineteen-page document   suggested using “small grenades with the virus and throw them in closed   areas like metros, soccer stadiums, or entertainment centers.” While   these terrorist groups may not yet be capable of carrying out such   sophisticated attacks, these types of weapons are definitely on their   radar. Al-Qaeda has also attempted to develop chemical weapons, even before the 9/11 attacks, and the United States has regularly...
 
 
  
 
    
    
  
   
                        
                                                                                
                 
                                                    
                            
                                  
    
  
  
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