Weaponizing anthrax

jamesd at echeque.com jamesd at echeque.com
Sun Oct 28 09:40:42 PST 2001


The following is theory, constructed from readily available
public sources.  This theory has not been tested in practice.

Anthrax spores disperse in neutral water and most nutrient
broths, settling to the bottom so slowly that for all
practical purposes they do not settle.  To separate them one
would need to add a suitable agent to the solution --
probably acetic acid would do it.  Acidify the water to PH 4
or so, and let them settle out.  I do not know if this would
harm the spores, but spores are tough.

Take some sodium bentonite clay, let it swell in water to
maximum volume, and add water till it is nice and liquid.
The clay should be moderately alkaline.  Because the clay is
alkaline,  the spores will disperse in it, as they do in
clean water.  Mix spores very thoroughly into the clay.

Acidify the mixture with acetic acid till the PH ensures the
clay precipitates from the slurry  The clay should
precipitate out to form a crumbly precipitate which when
dried can be readily pulverized to very fine dust.  Different
clays will yield precipitates that have different physical
properties.  Have no idea what PH would ensure the best
properties of the precipitate, but one can test this without
any need for bacteria.

Now comes the tricky bit.  One could have a well equipped
laboratory to grind the precipitate without exposing oneself
to too much of the dust, or one could take several people
from some unwanted group, for example Tajiks or Kurds, put
the precipitate in a barrel containing granite rocks, and
have them roll the barrel around until the precipitate is
well powdered.

It seems to me that it is not very difficult to produce
weaponized anthrax with primitive means, except that such
means would liberally spread anthrax spores around the plant.
If the plant was located in the frozen wastes of afghanistan,
this would not be a serious problem.





More information about the cypherpunks-legacy mailing list