Project BioShield: The first line of biological defense

Billions of dollars back this initiative to spur development of bioterrorism countermeasures. But new vaccines and treatments are only one aspect of readiness.

By Stephanie Stapleton, AMNews staff. Aug. 16, 2004.

National leaders have always dreamed of the creation of an impenetrable shield or barrier to protect against foreign assaults on American soil. Think fortresses, defense build-ups, interceptor missiles and even the Star Wars program.

But the threat of bioterrorism requires an updated vision, one involving a protective bubble that wards off bugs instead of bombs. The bugs, of course, are viruses and bacteria in weaponized form -- plague, tularemia, anthrax, smallpox, hemorrhagic fevers and an array of other deadly pathogens limited only by laboratory sophistication.

Safeguarding the public from these threats involves a distinct to-do list closely linked to the biomedical research enterprise.

"Ultimately, the hope is to develop a vaccine, or even beyond a vaccine, that can be given to people to prevent organisms from becoming pathogenic, to stump the process before harm is done to human bodies," said Jerome Hauer, executive director of the George Washington University Response to Emergencies and Disasters Institute in Ashburn, Va. "The protective bubble does not need to be a physical barrier anymore. And that's where we've got to look down the road."

Thus, enter Project BioShield.

President Bush first proposed this initiative during his 2003 State of the Union Address. It was approved by Congress earlier this summer and signed into law July 21.

Motivation for it stems from the 2001 anthrax attacks, which highlighted the nation's vulnerability. Five people were killed, and most experts say the toll would have been higher had the disease strain not responded to available antibiotics.