Journal of Education and Health Promotion

The biological weapons threats and coping strategies for health promotion

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Seyyed-Javad Hosseini-Shokouh
. Rahim Ali Sheikhi 1
. Seyed Mohammad Reza Hosseini 2
. Parisa Moradimajd 3

1 Community‑oriented Nursing Midwifery Research Center, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran

2 Department of Emergency Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran

3 Department of Anesthesia, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
The biotechnology revolution and the emergence of new ways to change the genetic material of an
organism have led to an increased risk of biological wars. Coping strategies against these threats
is very important to improve the health of people. Therefore, due to the importance of this issue,
this study is aimed to review the scope of using biotechnology and genetic engineering in wars and
coping strategies in all over the world. In this review study, database includes of PubMed, Web of
Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Science Direct were searched. The search was limited to
reviewed articles in English published between 1990 and 2020. The primary search results generated
148 relevant references. After eliminating the duplicates and articles which were not related to
the review of the abstract, 11 references were identified for inclusion in this review. Based on the
results of these studies, the advances in genetic engineering can lead to the development of new
weapons for other types of conflict and war scenarios, secret operations, and sabotage activities.
Rapid developments in biotechnology and genetics have created environmental, ethical, political,
and social challenges for many communities. Increasing awareness and sensitivity, monitoring, and
building capacity for effective coping are essential. Biotechnology areas that will probably significantly
contribute to countering biological weapons include recognizing the human genome, strengthening
the immune system, identifying bacteria and viruses’ genome, equipment for biological identification,
new vaccines, new antibiotics, and anti‑viral drugs must be monitored.

Keywords

Biologic threat
biologic warfare
biotechnology
genetic engineering
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 11, Issue 4
May 2021
Pages 1-8

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