Despite the vital importance of the emerging area of biotechnology and its role in defense planning and policymaking, no definitive book has been written on the topic for the defense policymaker, the military student, and the private-sector bioscientist interested in the "emerging opportunities market" of national security. This edited volume is intended to help close this gap and provide the necessary backdrop for thinking strategically about biology in defense planning and policymaking. This volume is about applications of the biological sciences, here called "biologically inspired innovations," to the military. Rather than treating biology as a series of threats to be dealt with, such innovations generally approach the biological sciences as a set of opportunities for the military to gain strategic advantage over adversaries. These opportunities range from looking at everything from genes to brains, from enhancing human performance to creating renewable energy, from sensing the environment around us to harnessing its power.

Ever since man took to the battlefield, biology has played a significant role-both unintentionally and intentionally-in conflict. Prior to the discovery of the germ theory of disease, most combat deaths were the result of infections. And even before that understanding, biology was used in an offensive role. An early example was the Tatars' hurling of plague victims' bodies over the wall of the Crimean city of Kaffa in 1346, which probably helped spread the Black Death. Despite various treaties and protocols, offensive biological weapons use has continued to this day, with the anthrax attacks of 2001 being the most recent incident. Such activity has led to a strong defensive program, with medical science developing numerous countermeasures that have benefited both civilian and military populations. But that is the "old" biological warfare. Covert programs for the development of novel weapons will advance; likewise, the development of countermeasures will also continue. The present volume, however, does not address these issues. Rather, it reviews and analyzes current research and likely future developments in the life sciences and how they will significantly influence the biological material available to warfighters-not as weapons systems, but as augmentation to currently available equipment. This is the "new" face of biological warfare. The editors of this volume have assembled experts in research, warfighting, and defense policy to describe biological applications from the smallest to the largest scale. In addition, they show how thinking in biological terms can improve our procurement cycle and enhance our development time and costs. Finally, no description of biotechnology would be complete without a consideration of ethical and legal issues related to such research and development. This edited book is an important contribution to the literature and nicely captures a number of ongoing military basic science research projects with long-term implications for the Department of Defense. It does not purport to be an exhaustive accounting, but it is an excellent introduction for policymakers to garner an understanding of where biology is going to fit into 21st-century readiness and preparedness for our fighting force.

This book explores the intersection of nature and technology as it relates to national security. It includes case studies and real-world examples of how bio-inspired innovation can help us create more efficient and effective solutions to the complex problems faced by today's military and intelligence communities. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Bio-Inspired Innovation And National Security Edited by Robert E. Armstrong, Mark D. Drapeau, Cheryl A. Loeb, and James J. Valdes, National Defense University Robert E Armstrong, Mark D Drapeau NDU Press, 2010 Science; Life Sciences; Biology; General; History / Military / Biological & Chemical Warfare; Political Science / Political Freedom & Security / International Security; Political Science / Political Freedom & Security / Terrorism; Science / Life Sciences / Biology / General; Technology & Engineering / Military Science

Despite the vital importance of the emerging area of biotechnology and its role in defense planning and policymaking, no definitive book has been written on the topic for the defense policymaker, the military student, and the private-sector bioscientist interested in the "emerging opportunities market" of national security. This edited volume is intended to help close this gap and provide the necessary backdrop for thinking strategically about biology in defense planning and policymaking. This volume is about applications of the biological sciences, here called "biologically inspired innovations," to the military. Rather than treating biology as a series of threats to be dealt with, such innovations generally approach the biological sciences as a set of opportunities for the military to gain strategic advantage over adversaries. These opportunities range from looking at everything from genes to brains, from enhancing human performance to creating renewable energy, from sensing the environment around us to harnessing its power. Topics covered include: biological warfare, biomolecular engineering, abiotic sensing, biosensors and bioelectronics, bioenergy, biotics, bio-inspired machines, DARPA, echolocating bats, neurobiotics, human applications, metabolic engineering, bioethics, biotechnology, and more. Contents: Part one * PERSPECTIVES ON BIOLOGICAL WARFARE * Chapter 1 * Biotech Impact on the Warfighter * Chapter 2 * New Biological Advances and Military Medical Ethics * Chapter 3 * The Life Sciences, Security, and the challenge of Biological Weapons: An Overview . * Chapter 4 * Biological Warfare: A Warfighting Perspective * Part two * BIOMOLECULAR ENGINEERING * Chapter 5 * Abiotic Sensing * Chapter 6 * Biosensors and Bioelectronics * Chapter 7 * Bioenzymes and Defense * Chapter 8 * Bioenergy: Renewable Liquid Fuels * Chapter 9 * Bio-inspired Materials and Operations * Part three * BIO-INSPIRED MACHINES * Chapter 10 * Learning Unmanned Vehicle Control from Echolocating Bats * Chapter 11 * Neurorobotics: Neurobiologically Inspired Robots * Chapter 12 * Biomimetic, Sociable Robots for Human-Robot Interaction * Chapter 13 * Biomechanically Inspired Robotics * Chapter 14 * Biological Automata and National Security * Part four * HUMAN APPLICATIONS * chapter 15 * Enhanced Human Performance and Metabolic Engineering * chapter 16 * Functional Neuroimaging in Defense Policy * chapter 17 * Forging Stress Resilience: Building Psychological Hardiness * Chapter 18 * Neuroplasticity, Mind Fitness, and Military Effectiveness * Chapter 19 * Bio-inspired Network Science * Part five * IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE * Chapter 20 * Ethics and the Biologized Battlefield: Moral Issues in 21st-century conflict * Chapter 21 * Legal Issues Affecting Biotechnology * Chapter 22 * Building the Nonmedical Bio Workforce for 2040