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Nov 18, 2003 Dateline Sept 26 2003 Southern China, Guanzhou Province Australian Consulate Dr Ri Chae Woo a world class North Korean Biological Weapons expert working on a “ whites only” Genetic bomb disappears under mysterious circumstances. The clandestine lab had been pieced together over many years,gene sequencers, autoclaves, and all of the other necessary equipment purchased on the second hand market or imported through legitimate universities or cancer labs and then untraceably redirected with large amounts of foreign currency an activity at which his new Saudi masters seemed extremely adept. On his very first night here he had been thrilled to see the American ABI Prism Capilliary Sequencer,peptide synthesizers , protein sequencer, affinity analyser ,spectrometer and a small SGI mainframe computer system .The clean room, bio hazard suit and the 3 sealed airlocks told the story this was no ordinary research lab. The gene sequence and genotype specific allele’s had been painstaking to find, over 25 years behind the silk curtain of North Korea and now 5 years for his new masters.. people whom he had never seen. 5 years since that day in front of the Australian Embassy .. not such a long time to do the work of a lifetime. The idea had been born of frustration by the illustrious leader,in a speech at the party conference he had railed "find me a weapon that will sweep the Americans aside, a germ that will affect our enemy and leave our own troops intact".he didn't need to add the words or else.. Madness and yet in the decades that followed specific alleles were discovered and experimented with to mixed success. Ri worked with the minimum number of assistants or spies as he privately called them, filing only the most innocuous progress reports bringing no attention to himself .Under his direction the lab made small but significant contributions to other programs and for the most part the great leader seemed satisfied. Working alone long after the others had left drew little comment from his communist masters.In a slim handwritten notebook was the accidental and revolutionary discovery Ri had made and kept hidden for 2 long years. A break through that were it known would both guarantee Ri a Nobel nominiation in the West and a lifetime of imprisonment in North Korea as a "national treasure".Had they known or suspected the truth of what he had planned Ri and his entire family would have been bleached bones in the field of traitors outside of Pyong Yan. The glass ampoules in the stainless steel case held a synthetic gene filled protein with a highly modified genetic structure, a sequence unknown in nature designed piece by piece by Ri himself. The Genome itself worked like a lock for a double cut key, one portion, the key was now growing in a Maryland farmers field. The final tumbler lay dormant in 87% of the population of North America. Closing the final airlocked door behind him Ri paused and looked at his home for the last 1800 days and nights. Flipping off the circuit breakers and tucking the case with the ampoules into his jacket, he paused as the fans and airconditioners which had run 24hours a day for the entire 5 year span finally fell silent. The warm Chilean air immediately attacked his wrinkled suit and just for a second Ri missed the cool mountains of North Korea. Stepping into the waiting Range Rover Ri wondered if his unseen masters would keep their word. They were nearly five miles away when a bend in the small cart track they were driving on allowed Ri a glance back at the direction from which they had traveled, a thick pall of smoke and faint russet glow on the horizon told him all he needed to know about the fate of his lab. Suddenly chilled, he pulled his jacket together feeling the small case that would change the world resting lightly against his chest. Answers about the viability of Genotype specific munitions vary but history itself shows us that when a weapon is possible it is both built and used. Project for a New American Century PNAC a report available on the web at :www.newamericancentury.org states in part and I quote “"advanced forms of biological warfare that can 'target' specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool." If thats not a death knell for life on this planet as we now know it .. I don’t know what is. Google Search Term: ETHNIC BOMB ------------ About the author: Stan Bernard lives in Edmonton Alberta, Canada. Stan writes, poetry, lyrics and short stories. His poetry has won recognition on CBC Radio, and local artist Dale Ladouceur has recorded and released a cd featuring his work... "Prayer for the Forest". Email Stan: bernard_stan@yahoo.com Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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