Terrorists Potentially Target Millions in Makeshift Biological Weapons ‘Laboratories’, UN Forum Hears

Signatories of the Biological Weapons Convention met in Geneva to discuss the threat of biological weapons be used by terrorist groups. While a biological terrorist attack has not occurred since 2001, advances in science and gene editing have made the weaponization of biological agents easier. The meeting also took note of the lack of oversight the Biological Weapons Convention has and how it does not have the same resources and powers as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Outlook: Biological weapons continue to be a threat to society. Officially most nations will continue to denounce their production and usage, but there is little that can be done to verify an absence of biological weapons in a nation. There are legitimate concerns that illegal biological weapons or tools of production can be acquired by terrorist groups and used against civilian populations and as science progresses the easier it will be for terrorists to develop biological weaponry.