Jonathan D. Moreno David and Lyn Silfen University Professor

Date

UNIVERSCITY OCF PENNSYLVANIA CENTER FOR BIOETHICS

National Security and Biology Petrie-Flom Center Harvard Law School April 5, 2016

Disclaimer

I am currently a senior advisor for the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Nothing in this presentation should be construed as representing the views of the commission.

Bioterrorism: Some history

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalward/mosespharoah.gif&imgrefurl=http://members.aol.com/JAlw/ten_plagues.html&h=379&w=307&sz=98&tbnid=nDP5nqDKNzAJ:&tbnh=118&tbnw=96&prev=/images?q=ten+plagues&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8

Oedipuss sin punished by plague

The Roman army

Armis bella non venenis geri.

War is waged with armaments, not with poisons.

Yet they were used

http://www.artrenewal.org/images/artists/b/Belli_Luigi/large/A_Roman_Soldier.jpg

French and Indian War

Sir Jeffrey Amherst orders General Henry Bouquet to disseminate smallpox among tribes in the Ohio-Pennsylvania region using blankets of ill soldiers

Confederate soldiers and poisoning of wells in advance of Union Army

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=dhr.dos.state.fl.us/museum/civwar/images/pvtdenham.jpg&imgrefurl=http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/museum/civwar/05.html&h=452&w=342&sz=39&tbnid=X0ALc1TSJx4J:&tbnh=122&tbnw=93&prev=/images?q=confederate+soldiers&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8

Koch and Anthrax

Robert Koch shows that anthrax is caused by a specific bacterium, 1877

Kochs Postulates: (1) Identify a specific organism, (2)

obtain a pure culture of that organism, (3) reproduce the disease in experimental animals using the pure culture, and (4) recover the organism from the infected animals

Pasteur and Anthrax

Applies heat attenuation to chicken cholera, then anthrax. Field trials show immunity in animals to challenge of virulent strain, 1881.

Imperial Japanese Army Experiments

General Ishiro Ishii at the Ping Fan complex, Manchuria

The Experiments A) High-Altitude Experiments

B) Freezing Experiments C) Malaria Experiments D) Lost (Mustard) Gas Experiments E) Sulfanilamide Experiments F) Bone, Muscle, and Nerve Regeneration

and Bone Transplantation Experiments G) Sea-water Experiments H) Epidemic Jaundice Experiments I) Sterilization Experiments J) Spotted Fever (Fleckfieber) Experiments K) Experiments with Poison L) Incendiary Bomb Experiments

http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/altexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/freezexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/Malariaexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/lostexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/sulfaexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/bonexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/bonexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/waterexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/jaundexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/sterilexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/feverexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/poisonexp.htmlhttp://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/incendexp.html

Soviet Anthrax Program

Anthrax leak on April 29, 1979 kills 94 people in Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinberg)

Boris Yeltsin admits leak from military activity, 1992

Fermenter>

The Era of Big Neuroscience

Simulate the human brain. Map activity of neurons

Cognitive Neuroscience Funding, US Defense Establishment, FY 2011

Army, $55m Navy, $34m Air Force, $24m DARPA, >240m

Margaret Kosal, Georgia Tech (5/12/11)

White House BRAIN Initiative, FY 2014 DARPA $50m

Examples of Department of Defense Research Programs, 2016

OSD fund programs to address understanding and modeling of human behavior in social and cultural contexts. Human Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Modeling (HSCB) Research and design neurocognitive computational models that detect a singlesound source (amongst multiple audible stimuli) to determine whether it is possible to link brain data to the segregated/isolated sound sources from noisy environments. Army Research Office, Life Sciences, $9.8 million Explore mechanisms for direct neural interfacing to receive and react to operationally relevant environmental, physiological and neural information. Biological-Computational Programs, $10.5 million https://research.usc.edu/files/2011/05/Guide-to-FY2016-DOD-Basic-Research-Funding-.pdf

The U.S. Third Offset Strategy $18 Billion FY 2017

Robotics Systems autonomy Miniaturization Big data Advanced manufacturing

Partner with innovative private sector companies

Operation Midnight Climax, etc.

Letter to Parliament from Secretary of State for Defence,

18 July 1995

The purpose of the Moneybags, Small Change and Recount trials was to identify the effects of the drug LSD on behaviour in military operations. The Volunteers were briefed prior to the study as to the nature of the drug which would be administered. They were also informed that some of them would be given a placebo rather than the active drug so as to provide controls for the investigation. Prior to the study the Volunteers were not told specifically which individuals would have the drug rather than the placebo as this would have negated the validity of the study. After the exercise was completed the individuals were told whether they had had the drug or placebo administered.

The Mind Race

The claimed phenomena and applicationspresented by several military officers, range from the incredible to the outrageously incredible. The anti-missile time warp, for example, is somehow supposed to deflect attack from nuclear warheads so that they will transcend time and explode among the ancient dinosaurs.One suggested application is a conception of the First Earth Battalion, made up of warrior monksincluding the use of ESP, leaving their bodies at will, levitating, psychic healing and walking through walls.

Enhancing Human Performance: Issues Theories, and Techniques,

Committee on Techniques for the Enhancement of Human Performance, The National Research Council,1988

Modafinil (Provigil)

Supplement or replacement for amphetamines

http://www.gizmo.com.au/pictures/hero/3574_01.jpg

The trust drug?

Natural oxytocin production is associated with trust behavior

May be artificially administered in a spray to encourage cooperation

Use in interrogations?

http://www.oxytocin.org/refs/index.html

The Anti-Conscience Pill?

Beta blockers can be used to treat stress, prevent PTSD

Suppress release of hormones like norephinephrine that help encode memory

Can they also reduce guilt feelings?

Non-invasive Brain Imaging

Uses fMRI (oxygenation) or PET scans (glucose)

Correlations of neurochemistry with behavior

NIRS (Near Infrared Spectroscopy) cheaper and portable, also records oxygenation but poor temporal resolution

The Brain Fingerprinter

Alan S. Cowen et al, Neural portraits of perception: Reconstructing face images from evoked brain activity,

NeuroImage, March 8, 2014

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)/ transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

Induces changes in brain activation

Could be used to alter a persons social behavior or attitudes

Influence brain functions including physical movement, visual perception, memory, reaction time, speech and mood

B. Zwissler et al., Shaping memory accuracy by left prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation.

J of Neuroscience, March 12, 2014

The Roborat

http://www.wireheading.com/roborats/ratbots.htmlhttp://www.wireheading.com/roborats/ratbots.html

Optogenetics

Neurons are genetically engineered to carry a protein adapted from green algae. When the modified neuron is exposed to light, via a fiber-optic implant, the protein triggers electrical activity in the cell that spreads to the next neuron in the circuit.

Seems to provide more

specific information and control over neurons and their transmission

International Law

Human Rights (E.g., Declaration of Helsinki)

Humanitarian (Geneva Conventions)

Disarmament (BTWC, CWC)

National Research Council August 13, 2008

Committee on Military

and Intelligence Methodology for Emergent Physiological and Cognitive/Neural Science Research in the Next Two Decades

Client: Defense Intelligence Agency

National Research Council May 12, 2009

Near term (within 5 years) Immersive virtual reality Heartbeat variability Galvanic skin response

Medium term (5-10 years) In-helmet EEG for brain-machine

interface Head and torso impact protection Biomarkers for predicting soldier

response to environmental stress Far term (10-20 years)

In-vehicle deployment of transcranial magnetic stimulation

Brain scanning to assess physiology

Ongoing (within 5 years with continued updating) Field-deployable biomarkers of

neural state Biomarkers for sleep levels

Italy

Human rights, medical ethics and enhancement technologies

in military contexts, 13 March 2013 Many of these [military enhancement] technologies represent a risk that goes beyond the limits set by international laws as regards to military activities and war, both for the individuals, civilians and military, who are subject to them and for the opponents.

National security and the brain before neuroscience

Psychopharmacology Non-invasive imaging Brain-machine interface Neuromodulation International Law Ethics

Thank you!

Slide Number 1DisclaimerBioterrorism: Some historyOedipuss sin punished by plagueThe Roman armyFrench and Indian WarConfederate soldiers and poisoning of wells in advance of Union ArmyKoch and AnthraxPasteur and AnthraxImperial Japanese Army ExperimentsSlide Number 11The ExperimentsSlide Number 13Slide Number 14Slide Number 15Slide Number 16Slide Number 17Soviet Anthrax ProgramThe Era of Big NeuroscienceSlide Number 20Examples of Department of Defense Research Programs, 2016The U.S. Third Offset Strategy$18 Billion FY 2017Slide Number 23Operation Midnight Climax, etc.Letter to Parliament from Secretary of State for Defence, 18 July 1995The Mind RaceModafinil (Provigil)The trust drug?The Anti-Conscience Pill?Non-invasive Brain ImagingThe Brain FingerprinterAlan S. Cowen et al, Neural portraits of perception: Reconstructing face images from evoked brain activity, NeuroImage, March 8, 2014Slide Number 33Slide Number 34Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)/transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)B. Zwissler et al., Shaping memory accuracy by left prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation. J of Neuroscience, March 12, 2014Slide Number 37Slide Number 38The RoboratOptogeneticsSlide Number 41Slide Number 42Slide Number 43Slide Number 44Slide Number 45International LawNational Research Council August 13, 2008National Research CouncilMay 12, 2009Slide Number 49Slide Number 50Italy Human rights, medical ethics and enhancement technologies in military contexts, 13 March 2013 Slide Number 52Thank you!Slide Number 54