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Medical Defense Against Protein Toxin Weapons

Review and Perspective

  • Chapter
Biological Weapons Defense

Part of the book series: Infectious Disease ((ID))

Abstract

The term “toxin weapon” has been used to describe poisons, classically of natural origin but increasingly accessible by modern synthetic methods, which are suitable for delivery on a battlefield in a form that causes death or severe incapacitation at relatively low concentrations (reviewed in ref. 1). Several of the most important toxin weapons are proteins, and these molecules are the focus of this chapter. Recent technological changes have increased the importance of protein toxins for biological warfare (BW): (a) progress in biotechnology has made large-scale production and purification feasible for a larger number of protein toxins; (b) molecular biology techniques, especially the polymerase chain reaction, have enabled the identification, isolation and comparison of extended families of previously obscure natural toxins; and (c) gene manipulation and microbiology have greatly expanded the accessible delivery vehicles for protein toxins to include, for example, natural or genetically modified bacteria and engineered viruses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD

    Charles B. Millard PhD, LTC, USA (Chief of Toxinology and Aerobiology Division)

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  1. Charles B. Millard PhD, LTC, USA
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, Fort Detrick, MD

    Luther E. Lindler PhD  & George W. Korch PhD (Deputy Director) &  (Deputy Director)

  2. Department of Bacterial Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD

    Luther E. Lindler PhD

  3. Department of Cell Biology and Biochemistry, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD

    Frank J. Lebeda PhD

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Millard, C.B. (2005). Medical Defense Against Protein Toxin Weapons. In: Lindler, L.E., Lebeda, F.J., Korch, G.W. (eds) Biological Weapons Defense. Infectious Disease. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-764-5:255

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-764-5:255

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