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How likely is it that biological agents will be used deliberately to cause widespread harm?
Author(s) -
Inglesby Thomas V,
Relman David A
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.15252/embr.201541674
Subject(s) - public health , library science , harm , political science , medicine , gerontology , family medicine , law , pathology , computer science
The fact that biological weapons have never been used—at least in recent history—is not sufficient reason to dismiss concerns that terrorists or nations could acquire and use dangerous pathogens as weapons. The ongoing discussion about gain‐of‐function experiments should take this very real prospect more seriously.