International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation
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INES Statement on the Bioweapons Convention

To the Fifth Review Conference of the BTWC

Biological and toxin weapons control has had a long history, with a general consensus that these weapons are of an especially repulsive character. Turning diseases into weapons of war and terrorism has been looked upon with the abhorrence that such a perversion of nature and science deserves.

Nevertheless, the basic assumption that no human being would ever use these weapons is being increasingly challenged. Despite international prohibitions, biological and toxin weapons have been developed, produced, and - although rarely - used, both for the purpose of warfare and very recently as weapons of terror. In all of these activities, scientists have played a crucial role. It is therefore the duty of scientists to play an equally crucial role in preventing, detecting and denouncing the misuse of biological sciences.

In the last three decades, we have experienced a revolution in biotechnology that has not yet reached its peak. The consequences of this revolution for the Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention (BTWC) have long been at the center of the debate over biological weapons control. On the one hand, the new developments in the fields of molecular biology and genetics are essential for the fight against infectious diseases. However, the possible misuse of knowledge gained by these studies for the development and production of biological weapons can no longer be ignored. The newest reports on the inadvertant creation of a "killer mousepox virus"[1] underscores this possibility, along with many other examples of research leading to the production of pathogenic microorganisms with new characteristics that make them even more dangerous.[2] Such research is being carried out daily, and there simply has to be a stronger awareness of this inherent threat along with every possible effort to counter it.

One effort has been proposed by the Federation of American Scientists.[3] This is an education program designed to make scientists and professionals more aware of the provisions and weaknesses of the BTWC as well as their responsibilities in support of compliance measures. INES welcomes and heartily supports this effort. In addition, criteria for preventive arms control[4] emphasize the need for monitoring and analyzing new developments very early in the process, that is at the level of research. This is something that scientists themselves can do best and these efforts would contribute to transparency and act as an early warning function concerning activities that could prove to be dangerous. Such efforts can certainly contribute to countering misuse of knowledge gained through research. These are, however, programs that cannot be effective alone; they can only complement more far-reaching, concerted measures that are still desperately needed.

We at INES are convinced that only a truly multilateral instrument with strong world-wide capabilities and powers for spot-checks, intrusive inspections and sanctions can act most effectively as a deterrent. Such an instrument can also only be effective if there is a dedicated international organization overseeing it. This organization could provide the framework to co-ordinate and support, as one of its functions, the efforts to build awareness, promote ethical standards and establish self-control in the scientific community world-wide.

The BTWC is already in place, but it needs to be strengthened in order to remain one step ahead of developments. We would like to urge nations at this Conference not to pass up the opportunity to do so.


Geneva, November 2001


  1. Nowak, R., Disaster in the making. An engineered mouse virus leaves us one step away from the ultimate bioweapon, in: New Scientist, 13 January/2001, p. 4-5; Jackson, R.J./Ramsay, A.J./Christensen, C./Beaton, S./Hall, D.F.R./ Ramshaw, I.A., Expression of mouse interleukin-4 by a recombinant ectromelia virus suppresses cytolytic lymphocyte responses and overcomes genetic resistance to mousepox. Journal of Virology, 75/2001, p. 1205-1210; Jackson, R.J./ Maguire, D.J./Hinds, L.A./Ramshaw, I.A., Infertility in mice induced by a recombinant ectromelia virus expressing mouse zona pellucida glycoprotein. Biology of Reproduction, 58/1998, p. 152-159.
  2. Green, B.D./Battisti, L./Thorne, C.B., Involvemenrt of Tn4430 in transfer of Bacillus anthracis plasmids mediated by Bacillus thuringiensis plasmid pX012. In: Journal of Bacteriology, 171/1989, p. 104-113; Bielecki, J./Youngman, P./Connelly, P./Portnoy, P.A., Bacillus subtilis expressing a hemolysin gene from Listeria monocytogenes can grow in mamalian cells. In: Nature, 345/1990, p. 175-185; Stepanov, A.V./Marinin, L.I./Pomerantsev, A.P./Staritsin, N.A., 1996: Development of novel vaccines against anthrax in man, in: Journal of Biotechnology, 44/1996:, p. 55-160; Pomerantsev, A.P/ Staritsin, N.A./ Mockov, Yu.V./Marinin, L.I., Expression of cereolysine AB genes in Bacillus anthracis vaccine strain ensures protection against experimental infection. In: Vaccine, 15/1997, p. 1846-1850.
  3. Rosenberg, B.H., On the education of scientists. Draft Proposal of the Federation of American Scientists Working Group on Biological and Toxin Weapons, Geneva, November 2000.
  4. Nixdorff, K./Bender, W., Ethics of university research, biotechnology and potential military spin-off, in: Zanders, J.P. (ed.), Ethics and Norms in Chemical and Biological Weapons Research, Minerva, Special Edition, accepted for publication.

INES Working Group on Biological and Toxin Weapons Control

Contact: Kathryn Nixdorff Informations about Kathryn Nixdorff, Department of Microbiology and Genetics, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schnittspahnstr. 10, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany, tel. +49-6151-16 3955; nixdorff@bio1.bio.tu-darmstadt.de.

International Network Of Engineers And Scientists For Global Responsibility (INES)

INES is an association of individual engineers and scientists as well as over 60 member organisations from five continents. INES encourages and facilitates international communication among engineers and scientists seeking to promote international peace and security, justice and sustainable development, and working for a responsible use of science and technology. INES is affiliated with the United Nations Department of Public Information as a Non-Governmental Organization.

Contact: Reiner Braun, Managing Director, INES, Post Box 101 707, 44017 Dortmund, Germany, tel. +49-231-57 52 02; ines_nat@t-online.de; www.inesglobal.org.


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