Military

DATE=8/30/01

TYPE=English Programs Feature

NUMBER=7-35227

TITLE=The Bio-Tech Army of the Future

BYLINE=Rosanne Skirble

TELEPHONE=(202) 619-2806

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR= Nancy Smart

CONTENT=

Attention: Science & Environment

INTRO: A new report recommends that the United States Army take advantage of dramatic advances in biotechnology to help soldiers both survive and perform better in the 21st century. As VOA's Rosanne Skirble reports, the study says new partnerships between the biotech industry and the government could reap benefits for both the Army and civilian society.

TEXT: The National Research Council report focuses on emerging biotechnology from new materials to biomedical devices that could save lives and make U-S soldiers more effective on the battlefield by 2025. It specifically does not address the use of biotechnology for the development of biological weapons.

Study Chairman Michael Ladish of Purdue University worked with a team of academics, industry and government scientists to produce the report.

CUT ONE MICHAEL LADISH

"The army itself would be able to have soldiers with enhanced performance. It would mean perhaps that they could administer vaccines more effectively. It also means that they might be able to detect certain types of threats in the field more quickly. And more importantly what it would mean is that the army itself could gauge this technology should it fall into the hands of adversaries."

TEXT: Biotechnology uses organisms, tissues, cells or molecular compounds derived from living things to make products or perform functions. The technology is used to produce drugs and antibiotics like penicillin and to make new materials and devices.

In the coming decades the Army will begin to use camouflage materials and lightweight armor made from living organisms, and wristwatch-sized sensors that detect biological, chemical and environmental agents.

Military foods will contain extra nutrients and vaccines to protect against certain diseases. Troops could eat biological markers to help distinguish friendly soldiers from the enemy.

This is not the stuff of science fiction. Edible vaccines are under development and genetically engineered foods are now available. The multi-billion dollar biotech industry has taken the lead in developing new products for consumers. Study Chairman Michael Ladish says the Army must recruit scientists educated in biotechnology and establish new relationships with the private sector to keep up with the advances.

CUT TWO: MICHAEL LADISH

"I think that it would be difficult for the army to carry out its own research program. So, what the committee thought might be one approach is to track all the developments coming out from these high tech companies. And then when one of them gets to a point where it could be very useful for the army, the army could put an incremental investment into this technology and then direct it for development for their own use."

TEXT: Study Chairman Michael Ladish says army based research could also benefit civilian society.

CUT THREE MICHAEL LADISH

"For example, if a bio-chip were developed that could detect a pathogen, an organism that is harmful. This might find immediate application in detecting pathogens in foods, food safety. As a consequence the consumer would benefit by the ability of the manufacturers of food or providers of foods to test their food quickly and inexpensively for pathogens that might otherwise cause food poisoning. In the case of tissue engineering it might be possible to look at cartilage repair and replacement or the use of stem cells for generating certain types of tissue or self-replicating systems which would accelerate wound healing."

TEXT: Historically, the Army has developed drugs to fight diseases such as malaria, prevalent in the world's poorest regions. The report says that by 2020 an estimated 7 to 8 billion people will live in poor, lesser developed areas of the world. And, the reports says, because the Army must be ready to deploy forces into these regions, it must continue to work on disease prevention that can both protect soldiers and contribute to world health. (SIGNED)

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