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Binary Bio-Weapons

01/24/2025 10:22 PM

Historic precedence indicates humans are capable of any conceivable action. Given that understanding it follows that a nation should be willing to consider uncomfortable things in order to protect itself against the actions of evil men and women.
Here is a briefer on binary bio-weapons as it pertains to pathogenic viruses and activation proteases.
Historically the term "binary weapon" referenced chemical warfare, where two component chemicals are mixed during delivery to complete the chemical used as the weapon. That term is used here in the context of biological weapons.
A pathogenic virus uses a specific activation protease, or number of proteases, to complete the chemistry in each step of pathogenicity. These specific activation proteases can be components within the natural environment of the target cell or be introduced; but in either case must be at a high enough concentration to overcome the protease suppression produced by current immune response.
In the case of SARS, the specific protease(s) required for attachment, as well as cell entry, have been identified. Proteases, inhibitors, and gene editing kits specific to this virus clade are commercially available.
Bioweapons are a long-studied method of warfare; but only in the past few years has it been possible to create viable chimeric viruses while amplifying pathogenicity. It appears Chinese and US researchers cooperatively pursued such research. It is possible the resulting transfer of knowledge, technology, and product has enabled the design of binary bioweapons that use an activation protease and a transmissible virus as components.
In application as a weapon the target population would first be exposed to a component virus. Perhaps a common virus held in check by protease suppression created by immune response. The other binary component, the activation protease(s), would then be introduced into the environment at levels high enough to overcome the protease suppression produced by current immune response; with the actors protected by prophylactic protease inhibitors and isolation.
In human immune response it can be imagined that given enough time, the immune system would clear the virus component of a protease activated bioweapon, where any exposure to high levels of the activation protease would be absent the other component required for pathogenicity, unless some means was used to keep the virus active in the target population.
Given modern world state relations and technology the probability of a targeted bio-attack by a nation state upon another appears to be quite low. It does not preclude criminal actors within nation state apparatus using nation state assets to carry out an attack. There are many possible motives for such an attack, those possible motives would not exclude simply making money.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3889862/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-022-01059-7
https://virology.ws/2020/02/13/furin-cleavage-site-in-the-sars-cov-2-coronavirus-glycoprotein/
https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/3/9/e202000786.abstract

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Guru

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#1

Re: Binary Bio-weapons

01/25/2025 12:16 AM

Anybody trying something like this in anything but a closely controlled lab, would probably contaminate themselves...so the problem would solve itself...Precisely targeted cheap weapons are where it's at in warfare these days...complicated expensive dangerous experimental devices, not so much.... This is a little too science fictiony to dwell on, imo...besides the word would get out that you were working on something like this, it would take years of targeted effort, and that cannot be done in total secrecy...

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Guru

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#2
In reply to #1

Re: Binary Bio-weapons

01/25/2025 11:30 PM

There is nothing "complicated" about introducing high levels of an activation protease into an environment to cause pathogenicity in a normally benign infection.
Using the term "weapon" infers political conflict. There are other possible motives.
You make the point that the actors would be put at risk by their own actions. This would not be the case if the actors used a protease inhibitor to reduce pathogenicity.
"A little too science fictiony --" - Just the opposite, protease activation of pathogenicity is well understood and the technologies to mass produce proteases and inhibitors is fully mature.

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#3
In reply to #2

Re: Binary Bio-weapons

01/26/2025 4:45 AM

With that in mind, a binary virus could eventually be targeted to individual DNA strands. Now THAT is scary. If the action of the virus would be delayed and spread over a long enough time for all targets to be infected, any person or their family tree could be the target. Over a period months or of years, perhaps?

Isolation would be possible if you did not carry any targeted DNA strands.(Which in my opinion is nearly impossible. We are all related at some point in our ancestry.)

"Sci-fi-ish"? Si fi has almost always been prophetic.

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Guru

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#4
In reply to #3

Re: Binary Bio-weapons

01/26/2025 12:28 PM

..."Si fi has almost always been prophetic."...

Ha ha, yeah sure...

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#5
In reply to #4

Re: Binary Bio-weapons

01/26/2025 5:57 PM

Jules Vern, 1869-70 20,000 leagues under the sea. He also predicted the launch site within a few miles, of the real moon rocket, although the depiction shown is quite comical.

In The Year 2889 , + Paris in the Twentieth Century J Vern,

see link:https://lithub.com/on-the-1863-novel-that-predicted-the-internet-cars-skyscrapers-and-electro

nic-dance-music/

Geosynchronous orbit, Arthur C. Clarke in 1945.Also, space elevators, but we are not there yet, but will be someday. Harvesting free energy from the ionosphere?

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Guru

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#6
In reply to #3

Re: Binary Bio-weapons

01/30/2025 9:39 PM

Now that is scary. You are suggesting the possibility of attacking specific genetic lineage? Yikes!!

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