ions, but from terrorists. A person can act far more radically than a government. Ifsuch a sociopath got hold of a biological agent, they could take our an entire metropolis. They could even spread the virus or bacteria around an entire nation. Imagine if such a terrorist found his way to San Francisco International Airport. He makes his way to the domestic flights terminal, an aerosol pump easily hidden in his briefcase, he releases a botulinum toxin. He leaves quickly to avoid exposing himself. Now he has transmitted one of the most deadly known substances across the country. It may seem like a far-fetched scenario, but the fact is that at least sixteen nations and an unknown number of terrorist groups can now produce biological weapons (Osterholm, 1997).Aside from combating biological weapons, one of the major tasks is being able to quickly identify one in the area. The U.S. military uses patches that can be attached to a soldiers arm or on machinery. These detect just four of the most commonly used biological and chemical weapons. The soldier has just a few seconds to react by donning his protective mask followed by a decontamination procedure and upgrade to higher levels of Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) gear, such as an extra layer of heavy clothing and chemical over boots.Currently, the Johns Hopkins University, in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control, are working on methods for identifying dangerous organisms. However, these tests require lengthy procedures, expert technicians, and wet-laboratory environments as well as a need for non-renewable reagents. What does this mean? A lot of money. The goal is to detect aerosols that contain dangerous organisms in less than five minutes. Thankfully, our country has the scientific and engineering talent to minimize the threat of biological terrorism. The devices will undergo testing at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Grounds. Successful results wi...
