Project Bacchus was a covert investigation by the
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) for countering weapons of mass destruction (WMD; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high explosives). Acc ...
US Defense Department to determine whether it is possible to construct a
bioweapons production facility with off-the-shelf equipment.
History
The project
Project Bacchus operated from 1999-2000 to investigate whether would-be terrorists could build an
anthrax
Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The s ...
production facility and remain undetected.
[ During the two-year simulation, the facility was constructed, and successfully produced an anthrax-like ]bacterium
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were a ...
.[ The participating scientists were able to make about of highly refined bacterial particles.][MacKenzie, Debora]
Anthrax in Florida and New York "the same strain"
, ''New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publish ...
'', October 18, 2001. Retrieved January 6, 2009.
Reportage
The secret Project Bacchus was disclosed in a September 2001 article in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.[ Reporters Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg and William J. Broad collaborated on the article.][ Shortly after it appeared, they published a book containing further details.][ The book, '' Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War'', and the article are the only publicly available sources concerning Project Bacchus and its sister projects, Clear Vision and Jefferson.][Enemark, Christian. ''Disease and Security: Natural Plagues and Biological Weapons in East Asia'',]
Google Books
, Routledge, 2007, pp. 173-75, ().
References
Further reading
* Tucker, Jonathan B.
Biological Threat Assessment: Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease?
, ''Arms Control Today'', October 2004, accessed January 6, 2009.
* Miller, Judith, Engelberg, Stephen and Broad, William J. ''Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War'',
Google Books
, Simon & Schuster, 2002, ().
*--
, ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', September 4, 2001, accessed January 6, 2009.
{{U.S. biological weapons
Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
Bioterrorism