Lesson 1
The New Biological Warfare: An Overview

“”[We are entering] the last days of the Age of Oil.”
- Michael Bowlin, President, American Petroleum Institute

Introduction

The basic unit of commerce is shifting from the hydrocarbon molecule to the gene. The move to a biobased economy will have broad-based economic, political, and military implications. In the near future, combat commanders will have a new array of biobased tools to draw upon.

Objectives

1. Understand course requirements and objectives.
2. Examine the developing economic trend towards biologically-based manufacturing and discuss its political and military significance.
3. Examine future role of biotechnology on the 21st century battlefield.

Issues for Discussion

1. What are the implications of a biological-based economy for the elements of power?
2. How would the biobased economy affect a combatant commander?

Required Reading

Armstrong, Robert E. and Jerry B. Warner. "Biology and the Battlefield." Defense Horizons. March 2003.

Ji-wei, Guo and Xue-sen Yang, "Ultramicro, Nonlethal, and Reversible: Looking Ahead to Military Biotechnology," Military Review. July-August 2005.

Suggested Reading

Opportunities in Biotechnology for Future Army Applications, Board of Army Science and Technology Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences national Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington DC, 2001.