Is the U.S. Conducting Biological Warfare Against Its Own Citizens?

By Barbara H. Peterson

March 08, 2010

Farm Wars

What is biological warfare? “Biological warfare (BW), also known as germ warfare, is the use of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, other disease-causing biological agents, or the toxins produced by them as biological weapons (or bioweapons). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_warfare)

In the movie, War of the Worlds, the invading aliens were ultimately defeated not by guns or bombs, but by the smallest of things. It was the bacteria that killed them. Will it be the same with us?

In the presentation Aggie the Traveling Agrobacterium (http://gmoaggie.info), we see that transformed Agrobacteria used to create genetically modified plants can escape into the environment, live in the soil and multiply, creating genetic duplicates of themselves, which include antibiotic resistance received in the laboratory.

These Agrobacteria have the ability to horizontally transfer this antibiotic resistance to other bacteria in the soil and environment. Acinetobacter is one of those “other” groups of bacteria living in the soil.

The transfer of antibiotic resistance from one bacterium to another is accomplished through the sharing of plasmids.

Bacteria can actually share plasmids with each other. If one bacterium has a plasmid, it can extend a projection, called a pilus, and attach that pilus to another bacterium. Once the two bacteria are connected, the donor cell sends a copy of its plasmid, through the pilus, to the recipient cell. Bacteria are also able to pick up new genes is by directly absorbing the genetic material of their dead, degraded neighbors. [horizontal, or lateral transfer]

http://bacteriology.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_do_bacteria_become_resistant_to_antibiotics

In 1968, 12,500 Guatemalans died in an epidemic of Shigella diarrhea, caused by a microbe harboring a plasmid that conferred resistances to four antibiotics! http://whyfiles.org/038badbugs/mechanism.html

Here is a portion of a new article from Mike Adams, the Health Ranger (http://www.naturalnews.com/028313_drug-resistant_bacteria_hospitals.html):

Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan and his colleagues examined data from 300 U.S. hospitals to see how the new bacteria were responding to imipenem. What they found was that between 1999 and 2006, there had been an astounding 300 percent increase in the number of Acinetobacter cases that were resistant to one of the industry’s most powerful antibiotic drugs.

What are Acinetobacter bacteria?

Acinetobacter (ass in ée toe back ter) is a group of bacteria commonly found in soil and water. It can also be found on the skin of healthy people, especially healthcare personnel. While there are many types or “species” of Acinetobacter and all can cause human disease, Acinetobacter baumannii accounts for about 80% of reported infections.

Outbreaks of Acinetobacter infections typically occur in intensive care units and healthcare settings housing very ill patients. Acinetobacter infections rarely occur outside of healthcare settings.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_acinetobacter.html

What are the symptoms of Acinetobacter infection?

Acinetobacter causes a variety of diseases, ranging from pneumonia to serious blood or wound infections and the symptoms vary depending on the disease. Typical symptoms of pneumonia could include fever, chills, or cough. Acinetobacter may also “colonize” or live in a patient without causing infection or symptoms, especially in tracheotomy sites or open wounds.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_acinetobacter.html

How do people get Acinetobacter infection?

Acinetobacter poses very little risk to healthy people. However, people who have weakened immune systems, chronic lung disease, or diabetes may be more susceptible to infections with Acinetobacter. Hospitalized patients, especially very ill patients on a ventilator, those with a prolonged hospital stay, or those who have open wounds, are also at greater risk for Acinetobacter infection. Acinetobacter can be spread to susceptible persons by person-to-person contact, contact with contaminated surfaces, or exposure in the environment.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_acinetobacter.html

How prevalent are Acinetobacter in our environment?

Semi quantitative comparisons of the numbers of Acinetobacter and of all bacteria capable of aerobic growth in a complex medium revealed that Acinetobacter constituted no less than 0.001% of the total heterotrophic aerobic population in soil and water and was one of the predominant organisms in some water samples. http://jb.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/96/1/39

Not only can Acinetobacter pick up antibiotic resistance from the transformed Agrobacteria living in the soil, but also can pick up transgenic DNA from the soil itself where GMO plants are grown. This transgenic DNA includes any antibiotic resistance markers used in the making of GMOs. The genetic material from GMO plants is incorporated into the soil when they decay, and available for horizontal transfer into the bacteria.

The key to limit the establishment and dissemination of antibiotic resistance in bacteria is restricted use of antibiotics in human and animal therapy and avoidance of antibiotics in animal nutrition and plant protection. Recently, Nielsen et al. (18) demonstrated that Acinetobacter sp. strain BD413 can be easily induced by nutrients to undergo natural transformation with chromosomal DNA in soil. Although the transformation experiments in this study were done under optimized laboratory conditions, our results suggest that gene transfer from the plant chromosome to bacteria might occur in soil if homologous sequences are present in competent bacteria. However, the in situ transformation frequencies would likely be much lower than those under laboratory conditions. http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/64/4/1550

In fact, Acinetobacter is used to detect the presence of transgenic DNA in soil and plants, due to its ability to take up the transgene and integrate it into its genome. “A specially constructed bacterium of the species Acinetobacter sp. serves as a quasi-living indicator for the presence or absence of a transgene in the plant or soil sample to be investigated.” (http://www.gmo-safety.eu/en/safety_science/71.docu.html)

Putting it together

GMO widespread use began in 1996 as far as we know, and according to Mike, “between 1999 and 2006, there had been an astounding 300 percent increase in the number of Acinetobacter cases that were resistant to one of the industry’s most powerful antibiotic drugs.”

ONE

Agrobacteria used to create GMOs carry antibiotic resistance genes. They typically live in the soil, and have the ability to horizontally transfer genes to other bacteria that live in the soil. These other bacteria can also pick up antibiotic resistance from the soil where GMO plants are grown.

PLUS ONE

Our immune systems are being systematically undermined by USDA agricultural policy. Our country is on a downhill slide due to poor nutrition caused by processed foods, GMOs, pesticides, etc., leaving us highly susceptible to infections.

EQUALS TWO

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE

Use a method of food production that ensures horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance through a common medium such as the soil. In the process, create an environment for infection to thrive by compromising immune systems via USDA agricultural policy – GMO, pesticide use, food processing, long distance transportation, etc.

So, what’s a few transgenic bacteria got to do with it? Well, it’s not just a few.

From America’s Silent Killing Fields:

In 1996, there were 1.7 hectares, or 4.2 million acres, which equates to approximately 6,563 square miles of farmland devoted to GMO crops. In 2006, there were 393,828 square miles of farmland devoted to GMO crops, which was 387,265 square miles more in 2006 than in 1996. Using a rate of increase calculation, this equates to

A 5900% INCREASE IN LAND DEVOTED TO GMO CROPS IN A 10-YEAR PERIOD!

If you think that this trend cannot continue, think again.

In 2007, the cultivation of genetically modified plants also increased. The area dedicated to such plants rose by 12 million hectares to reach a total of 114 million hectares. The greatest increase was shown by maize, which added 10 million hectares to its area.

In 2008, the cultivation of GM crops grew worldwide once again. Compared with 2007, the area dedicated to such plants rose by 9.4 per cent to 125 million hectares. Bolivia, Egypt and Burkina Faso cultivated GM crops for the first time in 2008. A sum of 25 countries used genetic engineering commercially.

http://survivingthemiddleclasscrash.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/americas-silent-killing-fields-2009-update/

At this rate, the amount of transgenic bacteria and plant material in the soil is huge, and increasing daily at an alarming rate.

It would seem that the creation of antibiotic resistance in bacteria such as Acinetobacter, which have the ability to pick up DNA from the soil, that live in that soil with Agrobacteria, which have the ability to transfer genetically engineered antibiotic resistance to other bacteria through horizontal transfer would be the perfect biological weapon to infect immune-compromised people with antibiotic resistant infections – an accidental by-product of genetic engineering, or a planned genocide using food as a weapon? You tell me.

©2010 Barbara H. Peterson

Tags: Acinetobacter, agrobacteria, antibiotic resistance, bacteria, Barbara H. Peterson, biological warfare, GMO