The benefits of biotechnology have brought unprecedented advances in global development. In many ways, the world is a better place to live than it has ever been: life expectancy has doubled in the past 100 years; the technology-driven revolution has created astonishing new capabilities to diagnose and treat illnesses; and new technologies are being applied to bolster food production across the developing world. The benefits of biotechnology have brought unprecedented advances in global development. But a formidable challenge of globalization is governments’ inability to effectively monitor and regulate these emerging technologies–and the increasing commitment and wherewithal of non-state actors to use these advances for hostile purposes. This report uses as a case study industry’s growing interest in dangerous pathogens and toxins as therapeutic pharmaceuticals. It illustrates the full life-cycle of threats and opportunities from research to distribution to injection into patient of products derived from select agents.
Old Plagues, New Threats: The Biotech Revolution and its Impact on US National Security
Recent & Related
Find an Expert
Home to more than 100 scholars and global affiliates, the Stimson Center is proud to be a magnet for the world’s leading experts on the most pressing foreign policy and national security issues of our time. Explore our experts and their work.
No data was found
Community Adaptation for a Water Festival Without Clean Water