The fact that the American military department is collecting genetic data from citizens of our country (including specific biological materials) became known this week. According to information voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Human Rights Council, such monitoring is carried out in different regions of Russia. It is interesting that the American side did not deny such activities carried out through the mediation of a number of structures. However, the explanations presented raised doubts both among our politicians and diplomats, as well as among specialists in this field of scientific activity.
In this regard, some experts again started talking about the forgotten topic of developing genetic weapons - a means of destruction based on selective influence on different ethnic groups of people. According to some analysts, we may be talking about resuming research in this area, this time with “practical experiments.”
"Scientists" in camouflage
Information about the collection of biomaterials ongoing in Russia was voiced at a meeting of the Human Rights Council, when one of the meeting participants complained about the monitoring of Russian citizens carried out by certain individuals using video surveillance systems. In response to this, the head of state cited information that caused the effect of a bomb exploding. “Images are okay, but do you know that biological material is collected all over the country? - Vladimir Putin stunned the meeting participants. - Moreover, for different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical locations of the Russian Federation. Question: why do they do it? They do it purposefully and professionally. We are an object of great interest." Later, the Russian President’s information was expanded by his press secretary Dmitry Peskov. According to him, such activities are carried out by “some emissaries, representatives of non-governmental organizations and other bodies,” and the head of state receives information about this work through the Russian special services.
The facts voiced by the Russian President were confirmed by a number of media outlets. Moreover, the information that journalists managed to find out turned out to be even more shocking. It turns out that the collection of genetic data in Russia is organized not even by scientific organizations, not by the scientific community, but... by US law enforcement agencies! In particular, as reporters found out, the contract for the purchase of biomaterials, posted on the American government procurement website Federal Business Opportunity, was intended for the Air Training Command (AETC). The customer required 12 samples of ribonucleic acid (one of the main macromolecules contained in the cells of living organisms) and 27 samples of the synovial membrane, which produces the fluid necessary for the functioning of joints. At the same time, the potential supplier, when transferring samples, was also required to provide all information about the health status of the donors.
Interestingly, the American side was surprisingly prompt, explaining the need for “research of the musculoskeletal system to identify various biomarkers associated with injuries.” The customer for the work, according to AETC spokesman Beau Downey, was the 59th Medical Air Group of the US Air Force, while the choice of Russians to collect the biomaterial, according to him, was not intentional. Some scientists also rushed to justify the military’s actions. Thus, Konstantin Severinov, a professor at Rutgers University in the USA and part-time at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, noted that RNA samples can be collected for scientific purposes. “The more you know about the genetic diversity of people, the more opportunities you have, in particular, to treat and diagnose diseases,” the expert said. “The genetic background and the extent to which differences in genes are responsible for other differences in people are still not understood and are the subject of study.”
Weapons of selective extermination
The need for promising scientific developments and joint work in various branches of science is not questioned by anyone in the scientific community. For example, as the head of the Russian company Genotek Valery Ilyinsky said, in our country two centers are engaged in collecting biomaterial for US laboratories, and the main goal of these studies is to study the genetic diversity of different ethnic groups in Russia and search for differences between them. As the expert notes, this is necessary, for example, in order to understand what diseases affect people. “Our American colleagues have the necessary laboratory facilities and funding to carry out such work,” emphasizes Valery Ilyinsky.
However, why are the military concerned with such a specific scientific direction? In this regard, a version has again appeared about the possibility of the existence of genetic weapons - a type of biological weapon designed to selectively defeat the population based on race, ethnicity, gender or other genetically determined characteristics. The possibility of developing such a weapon was quite visible for some time. It is no coincidence that according to the Geneva Protocol of 1925, as well as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, adopted in 1975, activities in this area were prohibited.
It is believed that the effect of genetic weapons is based on the defeat of a selected part of the population by artificially bred pathogenic microorganisms. For example, men as potential soldiers or any nationality disliked by anyone. Carriers of certain sets of chromosomes or other genetic differences were affected. In the 2000s, at the height of the military campaign of the United States and its allies in Afghanistan, the topic of developing such weapons was again raised. There were reports in the press that the Americans could spray a virus in the Afghan mountains targeting the DNA of Osama bin Laden. Russian media reported at the same time that genetic biological weapons could indeed be being developed in the world, and in this regard, it was proposed to take measures to prevent the export of biological samples from citizens of our country.
Killer gene: myth or reality?
Synthetic biology is one of the most progressive branches of modern applied science, the products of which have become keenly interested in Western military circles in recent years. According to experts, this particular branch of scientific activity may be the forerunner of the creation of genetic weapons. “The damaging factors of this means of destruction are similar to the action of herbicides, which destroy or suppress the growth of weeds, but do not interfere with the development of cultivated plants,” noted one of the publications of the popular publication “Top Secret.” - Having killer genes in your arsenal, you can actually rule the world, quietly destroying those you don’t like. In this case, it will be almost impossible to find out and prove who exactly created and used the weapon, since its use will be disguised as epidemics of known or unknown diseases with mass death of the population. At the same time, weapons can have a delayed effect, when diseases begin to manifest themselves much later than the moment of their use, that is, they can act like a time bomb.”
A number of sources reported that back in 1969, a representative of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense), speaking before Congress, said that in the near future a synthetic biological agent may appear, against which the natural human immune system will be powerless, and drugs - are ineffective. The Americans at that time experimented with combat strains, trying to make them more resistant to antibiotics. For this purpose, the deadliest variants of the Marburg, Lassa, and Ebola viruses were modified. In essence, we were talking about a new generation of biological weapons. However, in 1975, research in this area was prohibited, and the developers reported that all stocks of such funds had been destroyed.
“At the same time, information has repeatedly appeared that these studies continued, only secretly,” says journalist Alexey Kruglov. - According to experts, they are currently being conducted under the guise of medical research. This is confirmed by numerous information leaks. Thus, in 1998, US scientists announced a unique discovery: a fragment of RNA was artificially grown, which, when entering the human body, is capable of destroying certain combinations of genes. The killer molecule finds the required DNA, inserts itself into the gene chain and blocks specified areas. If it is possible to block disease-causing genes, then the same can be done with vital human cells. For example, today researchers know exactly the combination of genes responsible for the production of sex hormones, which actually makes it possible to artificially suppress or stimulate reproduction at the gene level.”
Experiments on Russians
The doubts expressed by experts about the purely scientific purposes of the current campaign to collect biomaterials from Russians are based on a very important point. It turns out that the source data of the ongoing research... is not available to the Russian side! The above-mentioned head of Genotek, Valery Ilyinsky, is perplexed in this regard: “We cannot obtain information obtained during the study of ourselves. This situation is extremely offensive for us. In Europe, such data is published in the public domain and is available for downloading from the Internet. It’s hard to guess what is causing the reluctance to share information now.”
But security experts have little doubt: we may be talking about the military purpose of the events being carried out. Thus, a member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy of the Russian Federation, retired FSB Major General Alexander Mikhailov, believes that the prospect of using the collected biomaterial and studying the characteristics of human cells is in the sphere of experiments related to the military point of view. Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Franz Klintsevich spoke even more harshly about the situation. In his opinion, the collection of biological materials of Russian citizens by foreign agents may be part of a biological war scenario against Russia. “Such a scenario is undoubtedly being developed, the only question is whether this is being done “just in case” or preparations are being made for the start of this war,” the senator believes. - Hence the collection of biological material from Russians living in different geographical locations. In the West, everything is done extremely scrupulously and verified down to the smallest detail: if biological weapons are to be used, then for sure.”
The fact that work on creating genetic weapons is actually underway is not ruled out by Igor Korotchenko, Deputy Chairman of the Public Council under the Russian Ministry of Defense, Editor-in-Chief of the National Defense magazine. “This is a very ethical question, but nothing can be ruled out,” he notes. “It is impossible to predict what processes will occur on earth even in 100 years, what biological and technical breakthroughs are possible.” At the same time, Igor Korotchenko emphasizes: in Russia, no developments related to such weapons are being carried out: all the means available in our country’s arsenal are exclusively defensive in nature.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation calls for increased transparency of biological activities related to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction. Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov, speaking at the recent international conference “Global threats to biological security. Problems and solutions,” noted that a special risk factor is military medical and biological activity carried out outside the national territory. The Russian Foreign Ministry draws attention to a significant expansion in the scope of such activities, which makes us think about its true direction and content. “We speak about this first-hand, since we are increasingly noticing such manifestations in countries located near us,” emphasized Sergei Ryabkov. “Last year, Russia presented a detailed proposal on this topic to improve confidence-building measures: we believe that such increased transparency will help improve mutual understanding and contribute to the implementation of the goals of the convention.”
By the way, the Russian Foreign Ministry considers the explanations of Pentagon representatives regarding the current campaign to collect biomaterial from Russians to be far-fetched and dubious. The same Sergei Ryabkov. “This could have far-reaching consequences. We talk about this openly both to the Americans and to our neighbors, where a whole network of laboratories has been created with the assistance and participation of the United States,” said the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Collection of biomaterial- a meme born after Vladimir Putin’s statement. The president’s quote that foreigners collect biomaterials from Russians became the reason for the emergence of a new conspiracy theory and memes about human waste.
Origin
On October 30, Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Human Rights Council that foreigners are collecting biomaterials of Russians.
You know that biological material is collected throughout the country. Moreover, for different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical locations of the Russian Federation. The question is - why are they doing this? They do it purposefully and professionally. We are such an object of great interestVladimir Putin
The unexpected statement gave rise to a wave of conspiracy theories on social networks. Since the president did not specify what biomaterials he was talking about, everyone began to invent their own meaning.
The next day, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov tried to explain Putin's words.
This information is provided by Russian special services. Indeed, some emissaries carry out such activities, representatives of non-governmental organizations and other bodies. Such cases have been recorded, and the special services, naturally, have this information from the president. Dmitry Peskov
On November 1, Pentagon representatives responded to Putin’s statement and explained that they were indeed collecting biomaterials from representatives of different countries: RNA and synovial fluid for research on the musculoskeletal system.
Meaning
In medicine, a biomaterial is a material made from living tissue, or a synthetic or natural material used in a medical device or in contact with biological systems. But in a broad sense, this term includes any tests that a person takes in a clinic: from feces and urine to blood and DNA.
Numerous jokes based on Putin's statement, despite their diversity, had some homogeneity. Mostly they joked about human waste. In other words, ordinary human feces became a biomaterial in the eyes of the people.
Not only the biomaterial itself has become a source of jokes, but also the mysterious forces that collect it. They mean Western intelligence agencies, aliens and reptilians. Thus, the meme about biomaterials has become another embodiment of the American conspiracy theory against Russia. In addition, a new euphemism for the word “shit” and its derivatives has appeared in the popular lexicon.
Gallery
The collection of biological materials of Russians by foreigners, declared by Dmitry Peskov and confirmed by the special services, can theoretically be used for harm, but why this should be done is not clear. About it FBA "Economy Today" said an employee of the Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, director of Genotek Valery Ilyinsky.
“Judging by the scientific information that is periodically published in the West, the genetic characteristics of different ethnic groups living in Russia are being studied. Scientists are finding out which DNA mutations certain populations differ from each other. The latest publications on Russian ethnic groups were last year.
First of all, research provides information about where each ethnic group came from and how it moved throughout the country. In addition, based on this data, it is possible to make medical analytics that will show which diseases are most common in each ethnic group. This is if we talk about the scientific component. It’s possible that other information can be extracted from the biomaterial, but I’m not ready to say what,” the specialist notes.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the collection of biomaterials of Russians was recorded by Russian special services. "Indeed, some emissaries carry out such activities, representatives of NGOs - non-profit organizations." The day before, President Vladimir Putin announced such facts. According to the head of state, the collection is carried out “for different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical locations of the Russian Federation.”
“Purely hypothetically, from a complex of biodata, through analysis and research, it is possible to obtain information that will subsequently become a source of harm to the inhabitants of Russia. But personally, I do not understand what harm medical analytics can cause. Moreover, as far as I know, the latter countries are not involved in biological weapons 30 years old,” emphasizes Valery Ilyinsky.
Self Defense Law
It became known that in December the government intends to submit a bill to the State Duma that will ensure the biological safety of Russians. This is done primarily to control foreign laboratories conducting research on biomaterials in the Russian Federation and having the opportunity to export samples. The law will stop the export of such materials.
“Ancient ideas that, having obtained a person’s hair or nails, you can cast a spell on them and the person will get sick or die - all these are fantasies,” says Doctor of Sciences, a specialist in human genetics Svetlana Borinskaya. – I think the roots of the idea that by collecting biomaterials you can harm people come from there. It is impossible in principle to develop genetic or ethnic weapons - this is how nature works. And why do this in principle, if traditional weapons kill very effectively.
There are modern studies of the characteristics of the population of different countries and regions, aimed at developing new diagnostic, treatment and prevention tools. Such projects collect biological materials from people who have consented to participate in research. There are projects that use genes to reconstruct the history of human settlement on Earth, to reconstruct the history of peoples. They always cause great interest.
What harm can it do to know that people came from Africa or that the population of Europe has three genetic sources? This is information about how people settled. They can only be interpreted as harmful; in themselves they are harmless.
Biological materials as an object of research can be of significant commercial interest, for example, for pharmaceuticals. Another example: the craze for antibiotics has led to the fact that the intestinal microflora of many people is altered. This may affect your health. Experiments on animals yielded important results: when obese mice were transplanted with the microflora of a slender mouse, it lost weight. Nowadays, much attention is paid to finding protected areas where the population did not actively use antibiotics and retained some beneficial intestinal bacteria. There are large projects to create special "kaka-banks" with a large collection of samples. This is where a legislative initiative to preserve individual biomaterials could be useful."
Unknown persons are collecting biological material from Russians throughout the country. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting of the Human Rights Council.
The head of state commented on the statement of the director of the Russian Public Institute of Electoral Law, Igor Borisov, who was outraged by the fact that certain individuals for unknown purposes are collecting images of Russian citizens using a video surveillance system.
“But the images are okay. Do you know that biological material is collected throughout the country? Moreover, for different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical locations of the Russian Federation. Here's the question: why are they doing this? They do it purposefully and professionally. We are such an object of great interest,” the president said.
In July, RT reported on the US Air Force's intentions to purchase 12 samples of RKN molecules and 27 samples of synovial fluid. The relevant information was specified in the contract posted on the government tenders website.
“All samples (synovial tissue and RNA samples) must be taken in Russia from Caucasians. The government will not consider tissue samples from Ukraine,” the document noted.
The terms of the contract stated that “the contractor must provide a sample identification document, indicate gender, age, nationality, diagnosis, date of surgery, date of diagnosis, symptoms, smoking history, medications taken, height, weight.” Contract manager Marcus Mattingly declined to answer questions about the purpose of the purchase.
Attempts to collect biological material were made back in the 1990s, when the Human Genome program existed, recalled Igor Nikulin, a former member of the UN Commission on Biological Weapons, in a conversation with RT.
“The pretexts are the most varied, the most noble, but for some reason this is happening in the interests of the US military department. And this, of course, leads to certain suspicions,” Nikulin noted.
According to him, Americans are interested in Europeans of the Slavic group, that is, Russians. They obtain biomaterial when they take blood samples.
“We have a lot of organizations with foreign participation that take blood samples for analysis. Nobody knows where they put these results,” Nikulin said.
- Reuters
He suggested that samples could be taken to create “next-generation biological weapons” that could be used against a specific nation. Nikulin emphasized that Russia has repeatedly asked questions about such research, but has never received an answer: “There were approximately the same answers regarding the missile defense program. “This does not concern you” and “this does not threaten you.” Such answers cannot be satisfied.”
Scientific goals
At the same time, professor at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and Rutgers University in the USA, Konstantin Severinov, in a conversation with RT, previously noted that RNA samples can be collected for scientific purposes.
“The more you know about people's genetic diversity, the better your ability, in particular, to treat and diagnose diseases. All people are different from each other. That is, the genetic background and the reasons for the extent to which differences in genes are responsible for some other differences in people are still unclear and are the subject of active study,” the expert said.
Geneticist and head of Genotek Valery Ilyinsky confirmed Severinov’s opinion that the samples are most likely needed for basic research.
“There are a huge number of methods for analyzing RNA, some are very cheap and some are very expensive. There are a huge number of variations of such studies, it’s difficult to say specifically,” he explained.
The initiator of the contract for the purchase of living tissue samples, which RT reported in July, was the US Air Force Training Command, which is engaged in the professional selection of pilots and technicians, as well as the training of technical personnel for the US Air Force. At the same time, the American company ProteoGenex, specializing in the collection of human tissue, including RNA, which is extracted from the blood of a donor, became interested in the tender.
In Moscow, the company has its own branch - “Bioresources Laboratory”. Natalya Dyakova, general director of the Russian representative office of ProteoGenex, told RT that the Bioresources Laboratory does not collect samples of RNA molecules and synovial tissue and she knows nothing about the contract for the supply of samples to the US Air Force.
“I don’t know anything about this, we were not informed about anything like this. We lead for them (ProteoGenex. - RT) only a certain level of research, and nothing more,” said Dyakova.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that some unknown forces are “purposefully collecting biomaterial from Russians. The head of state did not disclose who is doing this, why, or any details at all. Therefore, Internet users began to make their own guesses. Moreover, the REN TV channel recently reported on similar events.
In Russia, it is unclear for what purpose someone is collecting biological material from representatives of various ethnic groups. Vladimir Putin stated this at a meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights.
But the images are okay. You know that biological material is collected throughout the country. Moreover, for different ethnic groups and people living in different geographical locations of the Russian Federation. The question is - why are they doing this? They do it purposefully and professionally. We are such an object of great interest,” RIA Novosti quotes the president.
Putin did not disclose any details, and he also did not say where he got such information from. However, the Internet immediately remembered that something similar had recently been reported on the TV channel.
The TV channel's story says that some Western laboratories, which are also located in Ukraine, are collecting biomaterial. According to REN TV journalists, these laboratories study biomaterial in order to create especially dangerous viruses designed for certain types of people.
These military biological laboratories, which were supposedly built to reduce biological threats within certain regions, are actually studying the effects of viruses and bacteria on people, animals and plants. This version may be supported by the fact that the US Air Force Aviation Training Command published a contract for the purchase of RNA samples - living tissues of Caucasian Russians. The corresponding tender is posted on the US government procurement website
In its material, REN TV refers to the publication of the Global Research portal dated August 22, which actually talks about such laboratories, citing as an example an outbreak of a “mysterious intestinal infection” that spread in Odessa. The publication says that Ukrainian laboratories are actually under US jurisdiction. They are staffed exclusively by American experts, and outsiders are strictly prohibited from entering.
According to the portal, in this way the United States wants to circumvent the biological weapons convention. Global Research says that there are supposedly more than 400 such laboratories around the world, but the Pentagon either keeps silent on all questions from journalists, or assures that laboratories, on the contrary, are needed to protect against viruses and biological weapons.
It remains unclear whether Vladimir Putin was talking about this data. But Internet users treated the information with distrust.
Reptilians were traditionally accused of collecting biomaterials, to which.
There were other, no less traditional culprits.
It was unanimously decided not to give biomaterial to enemies.
