Zvonko Orehovec

An Evaluation of Bioregulators/Modulators as Terrorism and Warfare Agents

Bioregulators or modulators are biochemical compounds, such as peptides, that occur naturally in organisms and regulate processes on the cellular or higher level. Advances in biotechnology has created the potential for the misuse of peptide bioregulators in offensive biological weapons programs. They are a new class of weapons that can damage the nervous system, alter moods, trigger psychological changes, and kill. Within neuroscience over the last twenty years has been an explosion of knowledge about the receptor systems on nerve cells that are of critical importance in receiving the chemical transmitter substances released by other nerve cells. The potential military or terrorism use of bioregulators is similar to that of toxins. Together with increased research into toxins, the bioregulators have also been studied and synthesized. This paper presents an evaluation of bioregulators that can be used in hostile activities.