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An ethnic bioweapon aims to harm only or primarily persons of specific ethnicities or genotypes. The viability of ethnic bioweapons is disputed, the biggest obstacles being the diversity of the human genotype and the spectrum of shared alleles across human races.^[1]

In 1997, U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen referred to the concept as a possible risk.^[2] In 2005 the official view of the International Committee of the Red Cross was "The potential to target a particular ethnic group with a biological agent is probably not far off. These scenarios are not the product of the ICRC's imagination but have either occurred or been identified by countless independent and governmental experts,"^[3] even though contemporary definitions of ethnicities do not include any genetic or "racial" components.^[4]

The possibility of a "genetic bomb" is presented in Vincent Sarich's and Frank Miele's book, 'Race: The Reality of Human Differences', published in 2004. The authors believe that information from the Human Genome Project will be used in just such a manner. Even in 1998 some biological weapon experts considered such a "genetic weapon" a plausible possibility, and believed the former Soviet Union had undertaken some research on the influence of various substances on human genes.^[5]

In November 1998, The Sunday Times reported that Israel was attempting to build an "ethno-bomb" containing a biological agent that could specifically target genetic traits present amongst Arab populations.^[6] Wired News also reported the story^{[7] [8]}, as did Foreign Report ^[9]. Expert reaction to the reports was skeptical towards the scientific plausibility of such a biological agent. ^[10] The New York Post, describing the claims as "blood libel", reported that the likely source for the story was a work of science fiction by Israeli academic Doron Stanitsky. Stanitsky had sent his completely fictional work about such a weapon to Israeli newspapers two years before. The article also noted the views of genetic researchers who claimed the idea as "wholly fantastical".^[11]

• Race in biomedicine
• Pharmacogenomics

1. ^ Smart bio-weapons are now possible, The Guardian, May 20, 2003
2. ^ William Cohen (April 28, 1997). Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and U.S. Strategy. Sam Nunn Policy Forum, University of Georgia. Retrieved on July 12, 2006.
3. ^ Preventing the use of biological and chemical weapons: 80 years on, Official Statement by Jacques Forster, vice-president of the ICRC, 10-06-2005
4. ^ e.g., Smith, Anthony D. 1986. The Ethnic Origin of Nations. Oxford: Blackwell
5. ^ Interview of Dr Christopher Davis, UK Defence Intelligence Staff, Plague War, Frontline, PBS, October 1998
6. ^ "Israel planning 'ethnic' bomb as Saddam caves in", The Sunday Times, 1998-11-15. Retrieved on July 11, 2006.
7. ^ "Israel's Ethnic Weapon?", Wired News, 1998-11-16.
8. ^ James Ridgeway. "Ethnic Warfare", The Village Voice, February 2, 1999.
9. ^ "UPI report".
10. ^ "Debunking the "ethno-bomb"", Salon.com, 1998-12-02. Retrieved on July 11, 2006.
11. ^ "Now Playing: A Blood Libel For The 21st Century", New York Post, 1998-11-22. Retrieved on July 12, 2006.

• New biological weapons: Science fiction or moral imperative?, Robin Coupland, Red Cross Red Crescent, July 1999
• Genetic weapons: a 21st-century nightmare?, Ethirajan Anbarasan, UNESCO Courier, March 1999