Lee Ying-Chiang J, Cowan Alexis, Tankard Amari
Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022 Mar 8;10:860390. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.860390. eCollection 2022.
Biological weapons have been used for thousands of years, but recent advances in synthesis technologies have made peptide and protein toxin production more accessible and pose a threat to biosecurity worldwide. Natural toxins such as conotoxins, certain hemolytic compounds, and enterotoxins are peptide agents that can be synthesized in an environment with weak biosecurity measures and rudimentarily weaponized for limited use against smaller targets for lethal or nonlethal effects. Technological advances are changing the threat landscape around biological weapons and potentially facilitating a shift from state sponsored to more micro-level threats stemming from terror cells, insider threats, and lone wolf attacks. Here, we present the reader with an overview of the threat of peptide and protein toxins, provide examples of potent peptide toxins, and introduce capabilities of a proposed biosecurity program utilizing artificial intelligence that unifies commercial nucleotide and peptide synthesis vendors.
生物武器已被使用了数千年，但合成技术的最新进展使肽和蛋白质毒素的生产更加容易实现，并对全球生物安全构成威胁。诸如芋螺毒素、某些溶血化合物和肠毒素等天然毒素是肽类制剂，它们可以在生物安全措施薄弱的环境中合成，并初步制成武器，用于对较小目标造成有限的致命或非致命影响。技术进步正在改变生物武器周围的威胁格局，并可能促使威胁从国家支持的层面转向来自恐怖组织、内部威胁和孤狼袭击的更多微观层面的威胁。在此，我们向读者概述肽和蛋白质毒素的威胁，提供强效肽毒素的示例，并介绍一个利用人工智能统一商业核苷酸和肽合成供应商的拟议生物安全计划的能力。
