cases, be produced at much less cost. Some weapons are communica-
ble and can be spread easily beyond the initial target.

Toxins are chemicals produced by bacteria, fungi, plants, or ani-

mals that act as poisons. Usually they are classified as either chemical
or biological weapons, though in fact they have some characteristics
of both. While they are derived from organic sources, unlike biologi-
cal weapons they are not living organisms, do not reproduce, and are
not communicable. In common with biological weapons pound for
pound they can be hundreds to thousands of times more lethal than
an equivalent amount of chemical nerve agent. In contrast, like chem-
ical weapons the effects of some toxins can appear in seconds to min-
utes rather than requiring hours or weeks for symptoms to appear, as
is often true in the case of biological infections. Unlike chemical
weapons, however, toxins can often be difficult to detect and diag-
nose. For scientific research and development or nonproliferation
issues it may be useful to group toxins with biological weapons, but
medical considerations and casualty response, assessment, and treat-
ment emergency personnel should distinguish toxin weapons as a
separate category.

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Terrorist groups are capable of performing some form of biological or
toxin warfare. Individuals with some graduate-level science educa-
tion or medical training could produce bioweapons, though the skills
required for creating very small and stable agents does require some
sophistication. In some cases, biological attacks can be mounted with-
out any scientific skills or medical knowledge.

Developing Biological Weapons

There are four essential tasks involved in producing a biological
agent: obtaining seed stocks, production, stabilization, and prepara-
tion for distribution. First, a seed stock of the pathogen or toxin-pro-
ducing organism must be obtained. Not all biological agents and
toxins are sufficiently lethal or stable to be used as weapons. To pre-
clude biological materials that can be readily weaponized from being
readily available, there are restrictions on the most dangerous
pathogens, based on the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

12

Even without an implementing protocol for the convention many
countries, principally operating under the cooperation of the

Scope of

Biological

Weapons Threat

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