Researchers Seek to Counteract Bioengineered Anthrax

By Chris Schneidmiller, Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — Researchers from Canada and the United States have developed a drug that could someday be used to treat people exposed to anthrax bacteria specifically engineered to overcome antibiotics (see GSN, July 31).

The “inhibitor” in animal testing prevented anthrax bacteria from using a cellular protein to enter and infect the cell, according to scientists from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and the University of Toronto.

“There is … an increasing concern that therapeutics developed for bioterrorism agents may be rendered ineffective if the microbial target is altered intentionally.  This problem could be overcome, however, by designing inhibitors that block host proteins used by the pathogen or its toxins to cause disease,” they wrote in an article published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The main course of treatment today for exposure to anthrax — either in nature or through intentional acts, such as the 2001 U.S. mailings that killed five people — is with antibiotics.  Experts interviewed for this article said they had no knowledge of development of a weaponized form of the pathogen designed to overcome antibiotics.

“However, there are many reports demonstrating the development [of] antibiotic resistant strains of anthrax — it’s not difficult to do,” study co-author Jeremy Mogridge of the University of Toronto said by e-mail.

“It’s a matter of isolating bacteria that can grow in the presence of the antibiotic,” he added.  “Although most bacteria will die, a very small percentage will naturally have some degree of resistance.  It doesn’t require expensive equipment or much expertise.”

Reports have shown isolated incidents in areas such as India in which anthrax strains naturally proved to have some level of resistance to antibiotics, said Phil Baker, anthrax program officer at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

“They don’t occur very often in nature,” said Baker, whose agency provided $400,000 in funding for the inhibitor project.

Scientists have developed antibiotic-resistant strains of anthrax in order to determine how to overcome such forms of the disease, said Gigi Kwik Gronvall, senior associate at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Biosecurity.  The likelihood of terrorists or enemy states producing such a weapon is known only to would-be developers themselves, she said.

The limitations of vaccines and antibiotics in treating anthrax infection highlight the need for additional methods of care, Gronvall said.  Patients treated only with antibiotics following onset of advanced sickness are unlikely to survive, while the existing U.S. stockpile of licensed anthrax vaccine for civilians is sufficient to treat only 530 people, according to a November 2005 paper she wrote with center senior associate Luciana Borio.

Rather than seeking to eliminate anthrax bacteria inside the body, as with antibiotics, the U.S. and Canadian researchers since 2002 have sought ways to prevent human cells from becoming infected and spreading the disease throughout the body.

Their inhibitor attaches at multiple points to a receptor — a protein found on most cells — used by the anthrax toxin to enter cells.  It then acts as a barrier between the cell and the bacteria.  Using more than one point of attachment also increases the level of protection, scientists said.

“The only way to circumvent such an inhibitor would be to engineer the toxin to enter human cells through a different receptor,” Mogridge said.  That would be considerably more difficult than altering anthrax against antibiotics, he said.

Researchers developed four inhibitors, and then injected rats with the version that proved most potent in cell cultures.  That inhibitor protected all six rats exposed to anthrax.  Five of six rats that received no protection died in testing, as did another six treated with an inhibitor that attached only at one point to the cell receptor.

Further development and animal testing is required on the inhibitor, a process that could take several years, according to Mogridge and fellow project lead researcher Ravi Kane of Rennselaer Polytechnic.  The inhibitor must be shown to be effective at treating anthrax infection without causing side effects.

The drug could ultimately be used in conjunction with other countermeasures to provide greater protection from inhalational anthrax, which has a 75 percent fatality rate even with use of antibiotics, according to a press release from Rensselaer Polytechnic. 

The inhibitor could save lives even if the bacteria are not resistant to antibiotics, or when treatment begins some time after infection, Baker said.  Additional countermeasures could also help reduce the risk posed by nonadherence to the full antibiotic regime, which can last for up to 60 days, Gronvall said.

Inhibitors could potentially be developed for other viral diseases, such as influenza, AIDS and SARS, researchers said.

“We don’t have anything like it so this is really a unique and very important finding,” Baker said.

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Australian WMD Hunter Alleges Cover-Up

An Australian chemical weapons expert who assisted in the search for weapons of mass destruction in postwar Iraq said his country’s foreign minister sought to block distribution of a letter he wrote criticizing the effort, The Sydney Morning Herald reported last week (see GSN, Aug. 7).

John Gee wrote the six-page letter in March 2004 as he resigned from the U.S.-led Iraq Survey Group. 

“I now believe that there are no WMD in Iraq and that while the ISG has found a number of research activities … it has found no evidence so far on ongoing WMD programs of the type I had assumed would be there,” the letter states.

“I have concluded that the process here is fundamentally flawed,” it adds.  Gee also said that the Iraq Survey Group was “run by the CIA to protect the CIA.”

In an e-mail message written shortly after the letter, Gee said he had been told that Australian Foreign Minister Alexander “Downer has issued instructions it (my letter) is not to be distributed to anyone,” according to the Morning Herald.  Australian defense officials also told him that Downer’s agency “had not passed the letter on do Defense,” Gee said in another e-mail message.

Defense officials also refused to take a hand-delivered copy of the letter from Gee, he said (Marian Wilkinson, The Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 31).

Downer denied trying to block distribution of the letter, the Australian Associated Press reported.

“Of course not.  Why would I?” he said Thursday.

“I personally gave no instructions that it was to be or wasn’t to be distributed to anyone,” Downer said.  “As far as I knew, people around the government were very aware of Dr. Gee’s concerns.”

“We had no reason not to want to hear what he had to say,” he added (Paul Mulvey, Australian Associated Press/The Daily Telegraph, Aug. 31).

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Iran Fails to Meet Deadline to Freeze Enrichment

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran has ignored a U.N. deadline to suspend sensitive nuclear activities, the Washington Post reported Friday (see GSN, Aug. 25).

In response to the agency’s report, U.S. President George W. Bush called Iran a “grave threat” and said “there must be consequences.”

Other top U.S. officials called for U.N. sanctions.

“We are going to move this toward a sanctions resolution at the United Nations,” said Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs.  “We expect others to join us.”

However, no other world leaders who publicly addressed the issue used such harsh rhetoric, according to the Post.  European officials expressed disappointment with Tehran but scheduled a meeting this week with Ali Larijani, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, remained defiant.

“The Iranian nation will not accept for one moment any bullying, invasion and violation of its rights,” he said.

Nuclear experts said, though, that Iran’s nuclear progress was slower than anticipated.  Iranian officials had said there were plans to operate three cascades of 164 centrifuges by now.  However, only one cascade has been assembled and it is not working consistently, the Post reported.

“Their progress is far less than expected,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security.  “Whether it’s because of technical problems or self-restraint it’s hard to gauge, but I don’t think the U.S. can deliver on its promise to get hard sanctions when Iran is barely progressing.”

Other experts warned that tough U.S. rhetoric was undermining diplomatic efforts.

“Concerns about a slippery slope toward a military conflict with Iran have hurt U.S. efforts at diplomacy,” said Robert Einhorn, a former assistant secretary of state.  “The administration approaches the idea of negotiations with Iran as if we are prepared to take yes for an answer, but also engages in activities that suggest regime change is the real objective.”

Iranian officials have privately said they could freeze nuclear efforts if talks with the West were to resume, the Post reported (Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Sept. 1).

British Ambassador to the United Nations Emyr Jones-Parry said last week the Security Council would not press to penalize Iran for defying the Aug. 31 deadline before mid-September.

“Once we’ve had the report from the [International Atomic Energy Agency], had a further chance to discuss that, capitals will have a clearer view of exactly how this should be carried forward, but I would expect activity here to resume toward the middle of September,” he said.

Permanent Security Council member Russia has indicated reluctance to support sanctions, according to AP (Nick Wadhams, Associated Press I/Washington Post, Aug. 29).

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Larijani have tentatively arranged to meet tomorrow, AP reported.

Senior negotiators of the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany are expected to meet Thursday in Berlin to discuss the outcome of that meeting.  Washington and its allies agreed last week to wait for those results before pushing for punishment of Iran, according to AP.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called for a negotiated solution to the standoff.

“The best solution to the issue is talks,” he said.

Annan on Sunday met with Ahmadinejad, who said Iran favored talks but would not first halt uranium enrichment.

As a result, Germany expressed doubts about the Solana-Larijani meeting.

“We must remain skeptical” that the talks will achieve results, said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.  “If not, the road to the U.N. Security Council will be unavoidable” (George Jahn, Associated Press II/Washington Post, Sept. 5).

The European Union on Saturday agreed to give negotiators two weeks to clarify Tehran’s position, Reuters reported.

“If the meeting goes well and Iran accepts the philosophy of the cooperation project we presented to it in June, I think we will be able to start a more formal negotiation,” France’s Le Journal du Dimanche quoted Solana as saying.

“There’s no deadline, whenever we finish. ... We are going to start in the coming days and I hope that it will be very short.  We don’t need many meetings,” he added.

EU ministers said Solana would report to them in Brussels on Sept. 15 (Ingrid Melander, Reuters/Washington Post, Sept. 2).

Meanwhile, a study by U.S. nuclear experts has found that Iran is spending significantly more on its nuclear program than could be justified economically for a program meant only to produce energy, the Albuquerque Journal reported Friday.

The report from two U.S. national laboratories analyzes how cost-effective the program would be in dealing with Iran’s energy needs in order to evaluate the credibility of its claims about the program’s peaceful nature, according to the Journal (John Fleck, Albuquerque Journal, Sept. 1).

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U.S. Envoy Reportedly Meets With North, South Korean Delegates on Nuclear Crisis

Representatives from North Korea, South Korea and the United States are reportedly meeting today in Beijing, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 24).

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill is in China as part of a regional tour.  Earlier today in Tokyo, Hill said he was willing to meet with North Korean officials if delegates from other countries were in attendance.

“We can look at other formats,” Hill said.  “The time for organized, multilateral diplomacy in Asia is now” (Associated Press I/Yahoo!News, Sept. 5).

A U.S. official told Reuters, however, that Hill was not scheduled to meet with North Korean officials during the trip.

“We’re not going to see the North Koreans while they are boycotting the six-party talks,” the official said (Carol Giacomo, Reuters/Washington Post, Sept. 2).

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il might have entered China on Wednesday, prompting increased speculation that the North could be preparing for a nuclear test, the London Guardian reported.

South Korean media reports of a special North Korean train entering Chinese territory came amid increased tension between the two allies over Pyongyang’s missile tests in July, according to the Guardian.

“It’s quite clear that relations between China and North Korea are tense now,” said Shi Yinhong of Renmin University in Beijing.  “Since the North Korean missile test, China has been indirectly supporting U.S. sanctions on Pyongyang.  If today’s visit is confirmed, it may show that Kim Jong Il wants to complain about this.”

“It is a critical time for North Korea.  They are clearly frustrated.  The financial restrictions are getting tighter and the Bush administration is showing no sign of flexibility,” said Peter Beck, a North Korea expert at the International Crisis Group in Seoul.  “If North Korea wants to do a nuclear test, they would want to consult with China first” (Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, Aug. 30).

South Korea, meanwhile, is considering possible responses to a North Korean nuclear test, Agence France-Presse reported Friday.

“The government has started working on a concrete contingency plan in case North Korea carries out a nuclear testing,” said Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon.

“I am willing to go to Pyongyang if it will help” bring Pyongyang back to negotiations on its nuclear program, Ban added (Park Chan-Kyong, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 5).

Japan plans to declare a national emergency if Pyongyang conducts a nuclear test, AP reported Saturday.

Tokyo would organize a crisis headquarters within the office of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, according to defense officials (Associated Press II/CentralChronicle.com, Sept. 2).

North Korea has probably not perfected the technology to create deliverable warheads that would carry its full stockpile of plutonium, the Congressional Research Service said in a report released yesterday.

Pyongyang might have one or two Nagasaki-type nuclear weapons, but could have sufficient fissile material for six bombs, according to the report.

“The question of whether North Korea produced additional nuclear weapons with the plutonium that it apparently acquired after 2003 may depend on whether North Korea is able to develop a nuclear warhead that could be fitted onto its missiles,” the report says.

“North Korea has few delivery systems that could deliver such a bomb to a U.S. or Japanese target,” it adds.

“Thus, Pyongyang probably would not produce additional Nagasaki-type bombs but would retain its weapons-grade plutonium until it could use it in producing a nuclear warhead,” the documents says (Yonhap News Agency, Sept. 4).

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Russia, U.S. Discuss Missile Conversion

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov met last month to discuss Washington’s plan to place conventional warheads on submarine-launched missiles that now carry nuclear warheads (see GSN, Aug. 9).

The United States plans to convert a number of long-range Trident missiles for potential rapid use against terrorists or weapons of mass destruction.  Rumsfeld said Russia should also consider converting its missiles, according to a State Department release.

“If either of our countries or our friends and allies were threatened at some number of years into the future with a weapon of mass destruction or a capability that was lethal, I think any president, whether Russia or the United States, would like to have available a conventional weapon that could attack that party quickly and accurately and precisely and not feel that the only thing they had might be a nuclear weapon which they would not want to use,” Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld noted concerns that the flight of a converted Trident could be mistaken for a nuclear launch and lead to an atomic response.  Ivanov said that danger is of particular concern to his nation, the release states.  Additional talks are necessary on the matter, he said.

“These are preliminary plans,” Ivanov said.  “I cannot announce right now that Russia will join such (an) initiative.”

Rumsfeld argued that countries with nuclear weapons possess the technology to detect and track a missile launch, and to determine what sort of payload the weapon carries before it lands.

Ivanov countered that consideration should be given to cruise missiles or new types of intermediate-range missiles.

The two defense chiefs urged openness in dialogue on the issue during their Aug. 27 meeting in Alaska.  Washington backs development of “appropriate communications links and confidence-building measures” in any missile conversion plan, Rumsfeld said (David McKeeby, U.S. State Department Washington File, Aug. 30).

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Japanese Firm Suspected of Nuclear Exports to Iran

A Japanese company that manufactures precision instruments is suspected of supplying Iran with technology that could be used to produce nuclear weapons, the Associated Press reported last week (see GSN, Aug. 25).

Japanese authorities in August arrested the president and four other executives and employees of Mitutoyo Corp.  They have also searched the offices of the Tokyo-based Iranian trading company Seian, said Japanese Trade Ministry official Hiroyuki Murakami.

Mitutoyo is suspected of having exported dual-use equipment through Seian from 1984 to 1992 to a company connected with Iran’s nuclear program, according to Kyodo News (Carl Freire, Associated Press/Washington Post, Aug. 29).

Mitutoyo has since 1995 exported roughly 10,000 precision measuring devices, most illegally, Kyodo reported Thursday.

Investigative sources said some of the equipment might have been sent to North Korea and other countries by way of a black market network created by former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan (Kyodo News/Yahoo!News, Aug. 31).

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ElBaradei Marks Test Ban Treaty’s 10th Anniversary

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei last week observed the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty by calling for nations to bring the pact into force (see GSN, July 18).

The treaty is “our best hope of stemming nuclear proliferation,” he said.

“The CTBT is key to a system of security we are trying to build.  A system of security that does not rely on nuclear weapons,” ElBaradei said during a two-day symposium in Vienna on the treaty.  “We either send a clear message that we want to see a world free from nuclear weapons or we will continue to see a gradual erosion of the kind of system we have tried to build since the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons was adopted in the late 1960s.”

The treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons tests must be approved by 44 specific countries — nations that participated in the 1996 session of the Conference on Disarmament and had nuclear power or research reactors at the time.  Seven countries — China, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Israel and the United States — have signed but not ratified the treaty.  Another three nations — India, North Korea and Pakistan — have yet to sign the pact.

Delays in bringing the treaty into force are “symptomatic of the slow progress with the regard to movement toward disarmament,” ElBaradei said, according to an IAEA release (IAEA release, Sept. 1).

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India Designates Point Man on U.S. Nuclear Deal

Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has been named special envoy for negotiations on a pending civilian nuclear technology sharing agreement with the United States, Reuters reported Thursday (see GSN, Aug. 24).

Saran is expected to take over the post after retiring as foreign secretary at the end of the month, according to a statement by New Delhi.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has reaffirmed in recent statements that he would reject any potential changes made by the U.S. Congress to the deal.

“We had concerns with both the House bill and the Senate bill,” said Anil Kakodkar, head of the Atomic Energy Department.  “That is why the prime minister made the statement.”

“This will clear many things and address the concerns raised,” he said (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Aug. 31).

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Comoros Ratifies Chemical Weapons Convention

The Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros last month ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (see GSN, Feb. 3).

The island nation deposited its instrument of ratification on Aug. 18 with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the Hague, and is set to become the 179th treaty member on Sept. 17, according to an agency release.

All but six of the 53 African nations have now joined the treaty (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, Aug. 31).

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North Korea Possibly Preparing Further Missile Tests

A South Korean official warned that North Korea could be making preparations for another missile test, Reuters reported Saturday (see GSN, Aug. 10).

South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies reported suspicious vehicle movement at North Korea’s main missile test site, Yonhap News Agency quoted the source in Seoul as saying.

“Military intelligence officials have spotted movements by several large vehicles in the North’s Gitdaeryeong area,” the source said.  “They don’t rule out the possibility that it is part of preparations for additional missile tests.”

Another source in Seoul, however, played down the Yonhap report.

“As far as we know, no new vehicles have moved in that area,” the source told Reuters.  “Given this, it may be too much of a stretch to say this indicates the possibility of new missile test by the North” (Reuters/Washington Post, Sept. 2).

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U.S. Successfully Tests Missile Interceptor

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency on Friday brought down a mock warhead in a flight test of a missile interceptor, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 17).

The warhead was fired from Kodiak Island in Alaska 17 minutes before the interceptor left Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 10:39 a.m.  The interceptor’s kill vehicle hit the 4-foot-long target 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean, AP reported.

“It gave us a good chance to measure overall system performance,” said Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner.  “It was the most operationally realistic test we’ve had.”

An early warning radar at Beale Air Force Base in California also for the first time was used to provide information to place the interceptor on the path to hit the warhead.

“What we did today is a huge step in terms of our systematic approach to continuing to field, continuing to deploy and continuing to develop a missile defense system for the United States, for our allies, our friends, our deployed forces around the world,” said Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, head of the Missile Defense Agency.

Others reacted less positively to the $85 million test.

It “clearly shows that it is the U.S. which is increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and threatening war against our country,” according to a statement from the North Korean Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.  Pyongyang will boost its “self-defensive deterrent,” the statement said, using the standard North Korean code for its nuclear program.

Observers said the test should not be seen as final proof of protection against a missile strike, AP reported.

In a test, “they know the when, the where, the what (of the target missile) … where it’s coming from, the size of the warhead,” said Stephen Young, a senior analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists (Robert Jablon, Associated Press/RedOrbit.com, Sept. 2).

The Bush administration and Democrats agree on the need for a comprehensive missile defense test to prove the functionality of interceptors, satellites and radars, United Press International reported Aug. 29. 

“I want to see it happen … a full end-to-end process where we actually put all the pieces together.  That just hasn’t happened,” said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

A leading Democrat said, though, that such a test has yet to be scheduled.

“I am pleased to see that Secretary Rumsfeld has recognized the need to fully test our missile defense system in realistic conditions,” responded Representative Ike Skelton (D-Mo.).  Democrats on this [House Armed Services] Committee have been calling for these tests for some time, and I look forward to seeing the secretary’s plan for carrying them out.”

“Unfortunately, after reviewing the Missile Defense Agency’s test schedule, we see no evidence of the comprehensive and realistic end-to-end test of the limited missile defense system,” he added (United Press International, Aug. 29).

Meanwhile, two U.S. Patriot Advanced Capability 3 interceptors last week destroyed another Patriot missile representing an incoming tactical ballistic missile, Lockheed Martin said.

The interception at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico was the 19th successful flight test in 22 tries (Lockheed Martin release, Sept. 1).

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Japan Mulls Massive Missile Defense Spending Boost

Japan’s Defense Agency is seeking to boost its missile defense budget by more than 50 percent budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Agence France-Presse reported last week (see GSN, Aug. 24).

The budget request asks for $1.9 billion, an increase of 56.5 percent from the current year’s outlays. The increase would primarily go toward early deployment of additional Patriot Advanced Capability 3 interceptor missiles, said a Liberal Democratic Party official.  It would also include funding for Standard Missile 3 interceptors for Aegis-equipped warships, advanced radars, and missile interceptor research and development with the United States.

Meanwhile, the first Aegis-equipped U.S. warship deployed in Japan arrived at the U.S. military base in Yokosuka on Aug. 29, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 29).

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