By: Zeynep Tokuz
Biotechnology is being exposed to many different sectors such as the military. Unlike what you would expect, biotechnology is actually used to enhance soldiers’ capabilities rather than harm the opposing side. Although it can be altered and used as weapons, the military uses biotech to create opportunities to improve survivability.
Some of these include but are not limited to: new advanced body armor, improving soldiers' immune system, and new bio-based materials and sensors. Some ways that scientists are able to achieve these is by using different animal characteristics, such as microscopic animals called “water bears” to create health effects known to protect against radiation.
Some technological advances “are of great medical value and can be of great value in military affairs as well” (Ji-wei and Yang) such as the Human Genome Project, Bioinformatics, Proteomics, and Transgenic technology. Others are more targeted towards “attacking targets accurately and producing ultra micro, nonlethal, and reversible damage” (Ji-wei and Yang) such as specificity of wounding, ultra micro damaging, Crypticity, controllability and recoverability, and difficulty in taking precautions.
While biotechnology creates these harmful effects, it’s actually quite different from the term biological weapons. While biological weapons aim to cause mass destruction, directly obtained by nature, irreversible, and are not controllable, biotechnology “offer an alternative to biological warfare; and, ultimately, help eliminate traditional biological weapons” (Ji-wei and Yang)
However amazing some of these creations sound, the military is yet to put some in action to the national level because certain laws and rules that surround biotechnology have not yet been developed and we must ensure that these weapons and technology must never be abused or misused.
Sources:
Dieuliis, Diane. “Biotechnology for the Battlefield: In Need of a Strategy.” War on the
Rocks, 27 Nov. 2018, https://warontherocks.com/2018/11/biotechnology-for-the-battlefield-in-need-of-a-strategy/#:~:text=Biotechnology%20%E2%80%94%20a%20broad%20term%20used,warfighter%20survivability%20on%20the%20battlefield.
Ji-wei, Guo, and Xue-sen Yang. “Ultramicro, Nonlethal, and Reversible.” Ultramicro,
Nonlethal, and Reversible - Looking Ahead to Military Biotechnology, https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Directors-Select-Articles/Nanatechnology/.
Mayfield, Mandy. “ Military to Leverage New Biotech Fields to Gain an Edge.” Military to
Leverage New Biotech Fields to Gain an Edge, 2020, https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/7/24/military-to-leverage-new-biotech-fields-to-gain-an-edge.
コメント