Robert Petersen
@petersen2023.bsky.social
Historian, Special Advisor in biosecurity
RU poison claim against UK: "The alcohol was sent for testing, which revealed it contained a mixture of the "highly toxic chemicals colchicine and tert-butyl bicyclophosphate." The latter substance is an analogue of the military-grade nerve agent VX."
www.rbc.ru/politics/20/...
www.rbc.ru/politics/20/...
ФСБ заявила о попытке отравить высокопоставленного военного пивом c ядом
Украинские спецслужбы завербовали жителя ДНР, выдавая себя за девушку. Под ее именем они вступили в контакт с офицером и сделали вид, что та дарит ему пиво. Мужчина передавал алкоголь как посредник, е...
www.rbc.ru
November 20, 2025 at 12:20 PM
RU poison claim against UK: "The alcohol was sent for testing, which revealed it contained a mixture of the "highly toxic chemicals colchicine and tert-butyl bicyclophosphate." The latter substance is an analogue of the military-grade nerve agent VX."
www.rbc.ru/politics/20/...
www.rbc.ru/politics/20/...
Legitimate Research or Biological Threat? Detecting Misuse of the Biological Supply Network and Policy Options to Reduce Risks www.rand.org/pubs/researc... via @RANDCorporation
Legitimate Research or Biological Threat? Detecting Misuse of the Biological Supply Network and Policy Options to Reduce Risks
This research brief highlights the critical points and mitigation strategies that RAND researchers made in their report about how bad actors could exploit the biological supply network to develop biol...
www.rand.org
November 19, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Legitimate Research or Biological Threat? Detecting Misuse of the Biological Supply Network and Policy Options to Reduce Risks www.rand.org/pubs/researc... via @RANDCorporation
James D. Watson - a famous molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist - recently died. He is most famous for proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Less known is his role in the 1960s President's Science Advisory Committee regarding US BW capabilities.
November 18, 2025 at 10:11 AM
James D. Watson - a famous molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist - recently died. He is most famous for proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Less known is his role in the 1960s President's Science Advisory Committee regarding US BW capabilities.
VIDEO: Dr. James Giordano-The Brain is the Battlefield of the Future (& The Future is NOW)
smallwarsjournal.com/2025/11/13/v...
smallwarsjournal.com/2025/11/13/v...
VIDEO: Dr. James Giordano-The Brain is the Battlefield of the Future (& The Future is NOW) | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University
Dr. James Giordano speaks to cadets and faculty about how advancements in neuroscience and neurotechnology will impact the future of war. This event was hosted by the Modern War Institute at West Poin...
smallwarsjournal.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:56 AM
VIDEO: Dr. James Giordano-The Brain is the Battlefield of the Future (& The Future is NOW)
smallwarsjournal.com/2025/11/13/v...
smallwarsjournal.com/2025/11/13/v...
A classified Justice Department brief authorizing strikes on drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific describes fentanyl as a potential chemical weapons threat, according to people familiar with the memo www.wsj.com/politics/nat... via @WSJ
Exclusive | Secret U.S. Memo Authorizing Drug-Boat Strikes Cites Chemical Weapon Threat
The brief outlines the Trump administration’s legal case for military action against alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.
www.wsj.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:25 AM
A classified Justice Department brief authorizing strikes on drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific describes fentanyl as a potential chemical weapons threat, according to people familiar with the memo www.wsj.com/politics/nat... via @WSJ
"The recent ricin terror plot shows how ideological zeal and pseudo-scientific ambitions continue to drive jihadist experiments in India, even when the results are predictably ineffective."
www.idsa.in/publisher/co...
www.idsa.in/publisher/co...
Ricin Threat and the Jihadist Conspiracy against India - MP-IDSA
The Gujarat Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on 8 November 2025 arrested Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed, a doctor from Hyderabad (Telangana), along with firearms and nearly 4 kg of castor-bean mash, which...
www.idsa.in
November 14, 2025 at 10:27 AM
"The recent ricin terror plot shows how ideological zeal and pseudo-scientific ambitions continue to drive jihadist experiments in India, even when the results are predictably ineffective."
www.idsa.in/publisher/co...
www.idsa.in/publisher/co...
"Some proposals were exotic. State Department officials debated using mycotoxins, poisons produced by fungi, two former officials said (...) “We could not use a pathogen that was not safe. That’s biological warfare,” said John Walters."
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Inside the CIA’s secret mission to sabotage Afghanistan’s opium
In a decade-long operation, the CIA modified poppy seeds and dropped them by the billions from aircraft over Afghanistan in an attempt to weaken the potency of the country’s opium crop.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:25 AM
"Some proposals were exotic. State Department officials debated using mycotoxins, poisons produced by fungi, two former officials said (...) “We could not use a pathogen that was not safe. That’s biological warfare,” said John Walters."
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Virus-infected birds may have been tested by the U.S. as biological weapons in Brazil
apublica.org/2025/11/us-m...
apublica.org/2025/11/us-m...
Birds infected with viruses may have been tested by the U.S. as biological weapons in Brazil
Host city of COP30, Belém became an American laboratory as part of a possible Cold War effort linked to Vietnam
apublica.org
November 11, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Virus-infected birds may have been tested by the U.S. as biological weapons in Brazil
apublica.org/2025/11/us-m...
apublica.org/2025/11/us-m...
Israeli think tank (The Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy) regarding a possible CW threat from the Houthis in Yemen (in Hebrew) and how to react in Israel.
www.misgavins.org/klutstein-ho...
www.misgavins.org/klutstein-ho...
נשק כימי בידי החות'ים? ישראל צריכה להיערך לאפשרות - מכון משגב לביטחון לאומי ולאסטרטגיה ציונית
בכיר בקרב מתנגדי החות'ים בתימן טוען לפי מקור מודיעיני כי המורדים השיעים פועלים לייצר בחסות איראן נשק להשמדה המונית. כיצד מתגוננים מאיום כזה, ומה הסיכוי שהחות'ים אכן יממשו אותו?
www.misgavins.org
November 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Israeli think tank (The Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy) regarding a possible CW threat from the Houthis in Yemen (in Hebrew) and how to react in Israel.
www.misgavins.org/klutstein-ho...
www.misgavins.org/klutstein-ho...
"Investigators say Pakistan-based ISI facilitators and ISIS-Khorasan (ISKP) handlers have been exploring bio-terror modules since at least 2021."
Read more on News18
www.news18.com/india/gujara...
Read more on News18
www.news18.com/india/gujara...
www.news18.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:40 AM
"Investigators say Pakistan-based ISI facilitators and ISIS-Khorasan (ISKP) handlers have been exploring bio-terror modules since at least 2021."
Read more on News18
www.news18.com/india/gujara...
Read more on News18
www.news18.com/india/gujara...
Gujarat ATS busts alleged ricin terror plot; 3 arrested www.deccanherald.com/india/gujara... via @deccanherald
Ricin Terror Plot: Gujarat ATS Busts Plan, 3 Arrests
Gujarat Terror Plot: Discover how Gujarat ATS thwarted an alleged ricin terror plan, arresting three suspects linked to ISKP, uncovering arms and poison.
www.deccanherald.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Gujarat ATS busts alleged ricin terror plot; 3 arrested www.deccanherald.com/india/gujara... via @deccanherald
Three Chinese National Scholars from University of Michigan Laboratory Charged for Conspiring to Smuggle Biological Materials into the U.S. www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three...
Three Chinese National Scholars from University of Michigan Laboratory Charged for Conspiring to Smuggle Biological Materials into the U.S.
Three research scholars from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were charged today in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to smuggle biological materials into the United States and for making false...
www.justice.gov
November 6, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Three Chinese National Scholars from University of Michigan Laboratory Charged for Conspiring to Smuggle Biological Materials into the U.S. www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three...
"However, an alleged toxicology report has intensified speculation, suggesting that traces of ricin - a highly toxic protein derived from castor beans - were found in his lungs and vital organs."
www.kenyan-post.com/2025/10/rail...
www.kenyan-post.com/2025/10/rail...
RAILA ODINGA’s alleged toxicology report raises more questions over his sudden death in India - See what was found in his lungs!
www.kenyan-post.com
October 30, 2025 at 8:29 AM
"However, an alleged toxicology report has intensified speculation, suggesting that traces of ricin - a highly toxic protein derived from castor beans - were found in his lungs and vital organs."
www.kenyan-post.com/2025/10/rail...
www.kenyan-post.com/2025/10/rail...
Speech by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte regarding biotechnology and biological threats (including from China and Russia):
www.nato.int/cps/en/natoh...
www.nato.int/cps/en/natoh...
www.nato.int
October 29, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Speech by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte regarding biotechnology and biological threats (including from China and Russia):
www.nato.int/cps/en/natoh...
www.nato.int/cps/en/natoh...
