Kinder, Gentler world?

Old hat to some I am sure but what about modeling Bio-weapons in DS2 and
(SG2 or Starguard, depending on the list you read this on) (okay, if you
want, FT also) in game terms?  Is it worth going beyond the DS2
granularity of such weapons  (Treated as Confidence tests - basically do
they fail under the shock of such inhumane weapons, including (less so)
the firer's troops)?  How would non-human races in teh genres (Starguard
and Tuffleyverse) be prone to view them?

Glenn/Triphibious
This is my Science Fiction Alter Ego E-mail address.

--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: "Wilson, Glenn M." <WilsonG@nima.mil>
To:<snip names>
Subject: Kinder, Gentler world?
Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 08:23:17 -0400
Message-ID: <8B9D41BEE275D3119E7E00805FBE64D3022ADDF3@stlx4>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1334000/1334986.stm

Wednesday, 16 May, 2001, 23:51 GMT 00:51 UK 
	      Biological weapons could be
	      even deadlier

	      Experts say biotechnology could be used to make more
effective
weapons
	      By BBC Science's Corinne Podger 

	      Diseases such as anthrax and botulism have long been
	      feared for their potential use as bio-weapons. 

	      But researchers in the journal Nature say the pathogens
	      responsible for these illnesses could be made even more
	      deadly using the latest techniques in biotechnology. 

	      Earlier this year, scientists in
	      Australia were working on a
	      genetically based
	      contraceptive to control the
	      country's mouse plague. 

	      But, in the process, they
	      accidentally created an
	      unusually deadly strain of
	      mousepox, which is related to
	      the human smallpox virus. 

	      Lethal disease 

	      In their journal paper, the
	      researchers noted that if a similar genetic manipulation
was
	      done on smallpox virus, this lethal disease could be made
	      even more dangerous. 

	      The genetic experts warn that many other lethal pathogens
	      could also be modified for use as devastating biological
	      weapons. 

	      Anthrax, for example, is already one of the world's most
	      deadly diseases, but it can be treated using antibiotics. 

	      Alistair Hay, a biological warfare expert at Leeds
	      University, UK, says that the anthrax bacterium could be
	      altered to resist antibiotics. 

	      Genetic information 

	      And work of this kind could be made easier as the genetic
	      codes of more and more lethal bacteria and viruses are
	      completed and published. 

	      The genetic sequences of pathogens behind tuberculosis
	      and cholera have already been published, and those
	      responsible for anthrax and leprosy will be completed
later
	      this year. 

	      But, Tim Read, one of the researchers sequencing anthrax,
	      said there were benefits as well as risks in making
genetic
	      information about these disease-causing microbes public. 

	      While access to genetic data might make it easier to
	      produce more deadly versions of killer diseases, Dr Read
	      said it was also stimulating vigorous research into new
	      vaccines and drugs to treat them. 

Glenn Wilson, 
Regional Analyst  
(Singapore, Malaysia, and  Brunei plus miscellaneous islands.)

--------- End forwarded message ----------

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