# Bio warfare and the WTC **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2001, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bio-warfare-and-the-wtc/82808 "2001-09-20T15:59:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bio-warfare-and-the-wtc/82808/1 "2001-09-20T15:59:35Z")
All the news media have said that there was nothing like atrax on the planes that hit the WTC. My question is if there was something like that on the planes, would they know? You would think it would just burn up in the fire after the crash, and not get spread. Does most bio warfare cemicals get destroyed in fire hot enough to warp steel? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bio-warfare-and-the-wtc/82808/2 "2001-09-20T16:13:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Does most bio warfare chemicals get destroyed in fire hot enough to warp steel? 700 degrees, which barely hot enough to cause a visible glow, is more more than hot enough to destroy the proteins, sugars and nucleic acids that make up biological warefare agents. It’s also hot enoughto destroy most, but not all, organic compounds. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bio-warfare-and-the-wtc/82808/3 "2001-09-20T17:27:15Z")
These people aren’t likely to have sophisticated biological weapons. They have a DIY approach for cultivating \ in their \ that should give you an idea of what they’re about: > [@](#): > > \ Not very nice, but not likely to pose a threat to entire urban populations, either. [Edited by bibliophage on 09-20-2001 at 05:08 PM] ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bio-warfare-and-the-wtc/82808/4 "2001-09-20T17:34:47Z")
Hmm, **Larry** don’t be surprised if your reference gets stricken from the record… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bio-warfare-and-the-wtc/82808/5 "2001-09-20T19:41:59Z")
I don’t think it’s a threat to any nation’s security. Everybody knows that you can “prepare poisoned food” by handling meat after using the washroom without washing up. The link shows how low-tech the approach is-- We don’t need to worry about an anthrax bomb. (Do we?) The manual has some other interesting notes about poisons-- Like, \ Maybe, but I suspect the delivery-system would have to pretty radical-- Like maybe in a hollow-point bullet straight to the brain from across the room. [Edited by bibliophage on 09-20-2001 at 05:10 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bio-warfare-and-the-wtc/82808/6 "2001-09-20T21:47:51Z")
AFAIK there is no way to detect a bio agent easily (i.e. there is no bio detector that starts flashing a warning…the only bio detector I know of is a petri dish). Basically you start seeing a large number of people falling ill of the same thing and then the government starts to take notice. Since that didn’t happen after the WTC attacks either there was no bio agent on board the aircraft or it burned up in the accident. My money is on the former but we’ll probably never know for certain. I am surprised at the number of people here who seem to think the US is dealing with a bunch of retards. They may be psycho but they’re smart enough to learn to take over and fly a modern jetliner. Growing biological agents isn’t all that tough. I’ll grant it takes more than stirring some gunk up in your bathtub but most people who paid a little attention in high school biology can probably manage to do better than that. I’d venture to say that nearly any medical doctor could grow whatever they wished without too much trouble…including middle-eastern doctors. IIRC the same materials used for home-brewing beer is a good start for your own home bio-lab. The toughest part about the whole deal is getting your hands on the biological agent of choice in the first place. Fortunately such things as anthrax aren’t super common. Still, a determined effort to get the stuff would probably meet with success…_especially_ if there was government sponsorship behind it. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bio-warfare-and-the-wtc/82808/7 "2001-09-20T22:13:06Z")
**Larry Mudd** , I have edited your posts. Let’s not give anybody any ideas about how to kill people, okay? bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bio-warfare-and-the-wtc/82808/8 "2001-09-21T21:39:09Z")
Golly. It’s not like it’s esoteric information, like instructions for making a chemical bomb. The edited post looks like dangerous information was being distributed, and not just simple information that anyone could derive from common sense. An egg-salad sandwich left out in the sun amounts to much the same thing. At any rate, it’s noted and filed for future reference and strict observance. (I suppose it’s in the same category as nail-clippers in the air-- Not something you’d consider a threat in ordinary circumstances, _but_…) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2001, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bio-warfare-and-the-wtc/82808/9 "2001-09-21T21:49:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Whack-a-Mole \* > \*\*Fortunately such things as anthrax aren’t super common. Still, a determined effort to get the stuff would probably meet with success…_especially_ if there was government sponsorship behind it. \*\* Actually Anthrax is a little _too_ easy-to-obtain. I remember [a certain U.S. white-supremacist](http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/special/1998/feb/20/506858544.html) who was convicted of mail-fraud for obtaining anthrax bacilli through the mail by false pretenses. (He said he needed it for research rather than owning up to having a desire to thin out the population.) As far as I know, you can _still_ order it through the mail, if no one has any reason to suspect that you’re a homocidal maniac. Maybe time for some more stringent controls.