And answers to five more naive questions about the Pentagon's "genetic weapons development" scandal
After Vladimir Putin's statement that Americans are collecting biomaterials in Russia, many versions of what is happening have appeared. Including the fact that the United States (and in particular the Pentagon) may be engaged in secret development of biological weapons. We made a sober analysis of how such research actually takes place, and most importantly, why the Americans were interested in Russian samples.
Spoiler and reason for national pride: Russians are less likely to get arthritis.
1. What is biomaterial and how is it taken?
Broadly speaking, a biomaterial is any fragment of an organism. This concept includes pieces of muscle or epithelium that are taken during a biopsy, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, feces and blood for tests, and much more.
2. Can they take material without a person's consent?
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Loose hair or skin particles are also biomaterial, so the simple answer is yes. For example, when it comes to evidence at a crime scene. The DNA of ancient people, whose bones are found in various caves, can also be considered biomaterial. In this case, there is no one to ask permission from. But biomaterial is not taken from living people without their knowledge (especially such as synovial fluid).
3. Can you somehow use the material that you send abroad in the form of analyzes for treatment in foreign clinics?
They can examine it and, based on the test results, determine your diagnosis. Further, in any clinic - whether foreign or domestic - materials for analyzes are destroyed. It makes no sense to store them - they deteriorate. It is impossible to use, say, blood for analysis as a donor, because the analysis could not reveal all of its features. And it's just not enough. And if, for example, the sequence of your DNA is known, it is stored on a computer and is no more a biomaterial than an MRI scan. Just like the MRI readings, it is a medical secret.
4. How is the biomaterials market structured? Can you buy and sell them?
There is no point in selling biomaterials like urine or blood for testing. The first one is simply not used anywhere, the second is too little. There is also sperm, but there are special banks for it. Anyone who wants to use them will go there himself, but hardly anyone will agree to buy untested sperm from an unknown source. Considering whole organs as biomaterials, the question becomes more complicated. Yes, there is a market for donor organs. But to tell about it, you will need to write a whole article.
Import and export of biomaterials is a very cumbersome procedure: you need to draw up a lot of documents. According to Russian customs rules, an individual cannot export any biomaterials abroad at all. But in order for a legal entity to get them for scientific purposes (and they will not be given to others), it is necessary to submit a whole bundle of documents to the Federal Customs Service according to a list of nine items.
Most likely, the Americans got the biomaterial legally
5. What kind of research did the Pentagon do and why was it the material from Russia used?
According to a Pentagon spokesman, the Americans were identifying various biomarkers associated with trauma - simply by looking at which molecules appear in the joint fluid after the joint was damaged. The first group of samples (synovial fluid from people with sore joints) was from Russia. In order to correctly complete the study, control material from healthy subjects must also be obtained from one source, that is, from Russia.
But why did the Pentagon become interested in the Russians in principle? In the tender documents, we found the following requirement: synovial fluid and RNA (ribonucleic acids) must be taken only from Caucasian Russians living in Russia.
The fact is that Russians are much less likely than Americans to suffer from joint damage (i.e. arthritis), including provoked injuries. At the same time, in the United States, and especially among the military, this is a fairly common disease. The obtained biological material could be used for a pilot study of congenital genetic factors that trigger mechanisms for the prevention of this disease.
Most likely, the Americans got the biomaterial legally. After all, if “Russian” samples were needed for some special purpose (to come up with a weapon against the corresponding people), no one would ask for liquids from Russia, but simply recruit Russian emigrants - anything will come out faster than filling out papers.
6. Is it possible to make biological weapons against a specific race or ethnic group?
In theory this is possible, in practice it is unlikely. Some peoples differ from others in haplogroups - groups of genes inherited from one parent. There are paternal haplogroups, they are calculated on the Y-chromosome. They are maternal, in mitochondrial DNA. All descendants of one person carry the same mutations in such haplogroups. The genes in haplogroups encode proteins. They may differ in properties in representatives of various haplogroups.
It is possible to create a substance that will act on protein A of haplogroup X, but will not affect protein A * of haplogroup Y. It will be a biological weapon. But the problem is that people of the same ethnic group can have different haplogroups. Ethnicity is a cultural association, so people of different origins are usually found within its framework. If you try to destroy the Russians in this way, many will survive, but at the same time many residents of other countries will also die (who exactly - you cannot immediately determine who). And within the same race there are many haplogroups, so biological weapons that kill only Caucasians or only Mongoloids cannot be created.
SVETLANA YASTREBOVA