-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: June 14, 2007 11:40:02 AM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Western Research into "Targeted" Bioweapons Scares Russia
Russians Fear Targeted Bioweapons,
Ban Human Tissue Export
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=1066
The Russian Federal Customs Service (FSB) has banned the export
from the country of all human medical biological materials, from
hair to blood samples, as of May 28th.
According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, the ban was prompted
by a report submitted to Vladimir Putin that alleges "genetically
engineered biological weapons" are under development in the West.
The report was prepared by the FSB after investigation of the
medical facilities in Russia that participate in research trials in
association with Western pharmaceutical companies and universities.
According to the source, the report thus characterizes the
situation in the market for clinical trials: several large Western
medical centers that receive shipments of biological materials from
Russia are said to be involved in the development of "genetically
engineered biological weapons" for use against the Russian
population. The list of organizations purportedly working on the
project includes the Harvard School of Public Health, the American
International Health Alliance, the Environment and Natural
Resources Division of the US Department of Justice, the Swedish
Karolinska Institute and Agency for International Development, and
the Indian Genome Institute. Kommersant's source reported that the
report contains a wealth of fantastical details about the
development of "ethnically oriented" biological weapons capable of
rendering Russia's population sterile and even killing it off.
Many of the institutions named in the report already deny any
participation in weapons research. The ban is also being protested
by the many Russian institutions that participate in medical
testing and research. At present, about 28,000 Russians take part,
mostly by agreeing to be test subjects for pharmaceutical
companies. The clinical trial market in Russia is worth as much as
$150 million annually.
The idea that it might be possible to create bioweapons that are
specifically targeted to particular populations has been explored
by science fiction writers. Frank Herbert, in his 1982 novel The
White Plague, writes about a molecular biologist who loses his wife
and family to an IRA bomb, and engineers a plague virus that
targets and kills only women.
More recently, sf writer Greg Bear wrote about the same concerns in
his newly released book Quantico. In the novel, investigators
become concerned that terrorist organizations are developing
bioweapons that target only specific populations. His fictional
investigators make use of a hand-held biohazard analyzer called a
"WAGD" to detect traces:
She had yet to bring out her WAGD - pronounced Wag-Dee, for Wright
Assay Germ Detector - a biohazard analyzer the size and shape of a
large magic marker.
...She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a WAGD, hiding
most of it in her palm and up her sleeve, then swiftly uncapped
it ... and ran the moist gel tip along the inside... She capped and
pocketed the device...
(Read more about the WAGD biohazard analyzer.)
This fictional device now has a real-life counterpart - NASA's
LOCAD-PTS Handheld Microorganism Detector.
Read more about the ban at Kommersant--
http://www.kommersant.com/p769777/r_527/
Human_medical_biological_materials_export/
A Rospotrebnadzor representative suggested that the decision by the
FTS may be motivated by the Customs Service's intention to clamp
down on the market for clinical trials in Russia.
Russia is fairly extensively involved in that market: around 28,000
Russians are currently participating in such trials. Generally,
these patients have agreed to be guinea pigs in studies of the
clinical effects of new drugs that are being developed by
pharmaceutical companies, most of which are Western. Experts in the
pharmaceutical industry estimate that the clinical trial market is
worth $100-150 million annually.
Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) spokesman Alexei Brevnov told Kommersant
yesterday that "this decree will be a serious blow to our nation's
health – it will set it back years. It makes conducting clinical
trials in Russia much more difficult." According to Mr. Brevnov,
GSK recently had an similar run-in with the Russian authorities
over a pediatric vaccine trial in a private clinic in Volgograd:
the local prosecutor's office sued the company, alleging that the
study was illegal, and pressed criminal charges against three
doctors. In Russia, clinical trials are an obligatory step in the
approval of any new drug for introduction into the Russian market.
Yesterday no one from either the FTS or the Russian Ministry of
Health was able to explain the precise reasons behind the ban on
the export of biological materials, a move that will have grave
consequences for research and clinical analyses for patients in
Russian hospitals. Kommersant has learned, however, that over the
last several months large medical facilities in Russia that
participate in clinical research for pharmaceutical companies have
been receiving visits from FSB officials interested in the names of
the drugs and of the partners in the research, the length of the
trials, and the sources of financing for the studies. Moreover, a
Kommersant source in one of the medical centers reported that FSB
officials seized numerous documents, particularly copies of
financial documents and informed consent forms signed by patients
participating in the trials.
FSB officials explained that the raid was part of the agency's
struggle against "bioterrorism," a struggle that President Vladimir
Putin approved in 2004 against what has so far been a phantom
enemy. A source in medical circles who is acquainted with the
situation told Kommersant that the ban follows the presentation of
a report by FSB head Nikolai Patrushev to President Putin in early
May of this year. According to the source, the report thus
characterizes the situation in the market for clinical trials:
several large Western medical centers that receive shipments of
biological materials from Russia are said to be involved in the
development of "genetically engineered biological weapons" for use
against the Russian population. The list of organizations
purportedly working on the project includes the Harvard School of
Public Health, the American International Health Alliance, the
Environment and Natural Resources Division of the US Department of
Justice, the Swedish Karolinska Institute and Agency for
International Development, and the Indian Genome Institute.
Kommersant's source reported that the report contains a wealth of
fantastical details about the development of "ethnically oriented"
biological weapons capable of rendering Russia's population sterile
and even killing it off.
Sources indicate that the ban on the export of biological materials
was a direct result of a government memo signed by First Deputy
Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov that was circulated on May 22, 2007 to
Health Minister Mikhail Zurabov, FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev,
Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, and Justice Minister Vladimir
Ustinov. However, it has so far been impossible to determine
whether that memo was linked to Mr. Patrushev's report about
bioterrorism.
Russian Academy of Medical Sciences President Mikhail Davydov told
Kommersant yesterday that "the practice of joint research using
biological materials has existed for a long time. We're talking
about research in all spheres of medicine – hematology, oncology,
morphology, molecular biology. Joint research is essential in many
fields – we are lagging seriously behind our Western partners. For
example, the most promising [option] in genetic engineering is to
participate in joint projects with US institutions. Financing in
our [two] countries simply cannot be compared: for example, the
budget of the American Institute for Cancer Research is $17
billion. And the exchange of biological materials goes both ways:
our Western colleagues send us their samples, and we send them
Russian samples." He considers the FTS ban to be a threat to the
development of such research.
Rospotrebnadzor head Gennady Onishchenko, on the other hand, sees
nothing objectionable about the initiative. "In any civilized
country, the export and import of biological materials is
appropriately regulated in the interest of biological security. In
2004, the issue of biological security was brought up by the
president of Russia," he said, without bothering to explain
See what's free at AOL.com.
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/
<A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
