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Thread: Pentagon Biological Defense Programs at ‘Pivot Point’

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    Pentagon Biological Defense Programs at ‘Pivot Point’

    Biological warfare was always problematic because it can hit your troops as easily as the target. But with genetic science added into bio-warfare that need not be the case anymore.


    Pentagon Biological Defense Programs at ‘Pivot Point’

    The Defense Department will invest an additional $300 million per year over the next five years to guard against known and emerging biological threats, a senior Pentagon official said July 28.


    Deb Rosenblum, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological programs, said what is being called “bio-convergence” — the joining of biological sciences and emerging technologies will be both a boon to society but a threat to U.S. forces and the homeland as well.


    “Technologies like artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and physics are being applied to the life sciences, creating what the national security community is calling ‘bio-convergence,’” she said at the National Defense Industrial Association’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Exhibition and Conference in Baltimore.


    Synthetic biology, or engineered agents, can be used by malicious actors to create dangerous pathogens. The United Nations has noted that North Korea and Russia maintain offensive biological weapon programs and China is investing heavily in dual-use technologies as well, with some Chinese publications calling it a “new form of warfare,” she noted.


    Rosenblum’s office is spearheading a biological defense posture review, which is similar to reviews conducted of nuclear weapons and missile defense. It will look at new authorities, realignment of responsibilities, seams and gaps in defense against such weapons. The COVID-19 response will provide lessons learned for the review, which is expected to be completed this fall, senior leaders said at the conference July 27.

    ***

    “Our adversaries could engineer biological weapons to evade our medical our medical and physical defenses … engineered bio-weapons could challenge our ability to detect and attribute these attacks in a timely manner,” she said.


    The ease of how they are developed also widens the pool of potential bad actors, she added.


    “Put simply, we cannot accomplish what we’ve been doing in the past, but doing so even better. We need a radical transformation, and that’s what I mean by a pivot,” she said.


    For example, in the past, the approach for vaccines or therapeutics was “one bug, one drug.”

    Vaccines can take weeks or months to become effective, she noted. Advances seen that helped during the COVID-19 pandemic such monoclonal antibodies and mRNA vaccines are part of the solution, she noted.


    Sensing bio-threats can be done via thermal imaging or even satellites, she said. And every soldier in the field could be a sensor with wearable technologies that could be reduced to the size of a ring, she added.


    “We are looking at ways to have layered defenses so that even if an exposure has happened, the warfighter is able to go on and continue to fight in a contested environment,” she said.


    Defending against biological threats will take a whole of government approach, she noted, and the White House with the Department of Health and Human Services is working on a similar posture review.
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    In 1949 Sci Fi writer Robert Heinlein published a book entitled "The Sixth Column" The premise of the book was the US was taken over by "Pan-Asians". They were finally defeated by a small group of scientist who developed a virus that only attacked Pan Asians. Heinlein, of course, was called a racist for the very idea that different racial groups might have different physiology and be affected differently by viruses.

    Today, it appears he might have been closer to the truth than anyone realizes.
    Devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality; there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking.”
    Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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    Quote Originally Posted by OLD GUY IN FLORIDA View Post
    In 1949 Sci Fi writer Robert Heinlein published a book entitled "The Sixth Column" The premise of the book was the US was taken over by "Pan-Asians". They were finally defeated by a small group of scientist who developed a virus that only attacked Pan Asians. Heinlein, of course, was called a racist for the very idea that different racial groups might have different physiology and be affected differently by viruses.

    Today, it appears he might have been closer to the truth than anyone realizes.
    It would be nice if Robert Heinlein's view of citizenship (from Starship Troopers) was reality.
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    Targeted Biological Weapons are a reality just as they were used in the most recent James Bond movie. Can't share how I know but I do and it scares me plenty!
    My Revenge will be Success! - Donald J Trump

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    It would be nice if Robert Heinlein's view of citizenship (from Starship Troopers) was reality.
    I always thought that not having the right to vote until you had proven you were willing to defend the country was a good idea. If you are not willing to defend the country why should you have a say in how its run? The usual argument against that is "what about those people who physically can't serve, maybe they are blind or missing limbs etc.? Accommodations can always be made for the exceptions. If you don't want to do it that way another alternative is you must have paid taxes in order to vote.
    Devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality; there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking.”
    Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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    Quote Originally Posted by OLD GUY IN FLORIDA View Post
    I always thought that not having the right to vote until you had proven you were willing to defend the country was a good idea. If you are not willing to defend the country why should you have a say in how its run? The usual argument against that is "what about those people who physically can't serve, maybe they are blind or missing limbs etc.? Accommodations can always be made for the exceptions. If you don't want to do it that way another alternative is you must have paid taxes in order to vote.
    People who benefit from not paying federal income taxes shouldn't be able to vote for people to get more freebies.
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