Predicting Biosecurity Threats: Deployment and Detection of Biological Weapons

Abstract

AbstractUnderstanding what kinds of biological weapons can be made with what sort of technology and by whom is an important component of biosecurity. An equally important component is understanding the different potential targets a biological weapon could be designed to attack, how the weapon would be deployed against these targets, and the available strategies to detect the creation and deployment of an illegal biological weapon. Understanding how a weapon could be deployed against specific targets affords decision makers a better picture of the current state and capabilities of biowarfare and bioterrorism that need to be protected against. Understanding current detection capabilities allows for a more informed discussion on biosecurity tools, and, more importantly, allows for the identification of critical gaps and research needs to improve risk-screening, detection, environmental remediation, and various other normatively beneficial and legitimate uses of emerging biotechnologies (Trump et al. 2020a). These two topic areas are discussed in this chapter.