Project Bacchus was a covert investigation by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to determine whether it is possible to construct a bioweapons production facility with off-the-shelf equipment.
History
The project
Project Bacchus operated from 1999 to 2000 to investigate whether would-be terrorists could build an anthrax production facility and remain undetected.1 During the two-year simulation, the facility was constructed, and successfully produced an anthrax-like bacterium.2 The participating scientists were able to make about 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of highly refined bacterial particles.2
Reportage
The secret Project Bacchus was disclosed in a September 2001 article in The New York Times.1 Reporters Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg and William J. Broad collaborated on the article.1 Shortly after it appeared, they published a book containing further details.1 The book, Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, and the article are the only publicly available sources concerning Project Bacchus and its sister projects, Clear Vision and Jefferson.1
References
References
- Enemark, Christian. Disease and Security: Natural Plagues and Biological Weapons in East Asia, (Google Books), Routledge, 2007, pp. 173-75, (ISBN 0415422345).
- MacKenzie, Debora. Anthrax in Florida and New York "the same strain"", New Scientist, October 18, 2001. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
Further reading
Further reading
- Tucker, Jonathan B. "Biological Threat Assessment: Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease?", Arms Control Today, October 2004, accessed January 6, 2009.
- Miller, Judith, Engelberg, Stephen and Broad, William J. Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, (Google Books), Simon & Schuster, 2002, (ISBN 0684871599).
- -- "U.S. Germ Warfare Research Pushes Treaty Limits", The New York Times, September 4, 2001, accessed January 6, 2009.