Read Online Dead Life by D. Harrison Schleicher - Free Book Online
Authors: D. Harrison Schleicher
Ads: Link
Prologue
Even though the ban on the use and stockpiling of chemical and biological weapons has been in force since 1925, factions of many governments have ignored this sanction.
Several years ago a promising young scientist working on a cure for patients infected with flesh-eating bacteria had a major breakthrough. Taking DNA from a simple one-celled Amoeba Proteus and transplanting it into a common virus, he was able to create an organism that would basically eat the bacteria. The theory was that the body would then respond to the virus by producing enough white blood cells to destroy the virus.
Cultured bacteria quickly succumbed to the virus in the Petri dish. White blood cells introduced to the virus quickly overwhelmed it. Testing on animal subjects went well. Mice, cats, dogs and even primates all responded well within the parameters to justify further testing. The drug had a ninety percent cure rate. The other ten percent suffered from a reaction to the medication and had to be taken off treatment. In these subjects, the infection ran it’s course inevitably ending in death. Still, a ninety percent cure rate was an amazing result. The drug was to be a success. It was time to gain approval to begin trials on humans.
There weren’t a lot of cases of people being infected with flesh-eating bacteria. The people that suffered from this disease were mainly in third world nations. This drug wasn’t projected to be a money maker for the pharmaceutical company backing the research. It was to be a public relations project. The drug was anything but that.
The pharmaceutical company took the trial phase world wide. Three hundred participants were recruited for testing. Half of these were given the new drug while the other half were given a placebo. Great results were expected. A huge media campaign was started. The pharmaceutical company boasted that results would be fast. It was projected that in one to two months, the one hundred and fifty participants receiving the placebo would be switched over to the new drug AmbeoPro.
Within a week the one hundred and fifty patients receiving the drug were dead. White blood cell production could not keep up with the spread of the virus. The virus just spread faster in the human body. It was as if the virus was starving for blood. High fever and hemorrhaging soon occurred. Patients just bled out. The patients taking the placebo were deemed to be lucky not to have gotten AmbeoPro. They still had a slight chance of surviving the disease. Millions of dollars would be paid in lawyers fees and settlements. The pharmaceutical company could afford all of this. It was their image they were worried about. The promising young scientist was disgraced. He was promptly fired.
Within a month he had a new job. The scientist was approached by a splinter faction of the CIA. He was told his new drug was seen as a possible bio-weapon. The research he had done could fall into the wrong hands and they needed him to reverse engineer a cure for the new virus. This was true. The CIA did want a cure for the new virus. They also wanted to stock-pile the virus for national security reasons. The virus could not be transmitted person to person. It could be introduced into an enemy nation’s water supply. They saw this as a way to destroy an enemy without ever having to go to battle. We could win a war without ever firing a shot. We could win without having any casualties.
He was set up with a lab in Saudi Arabia to avoid prying eyes. Progress was swift. Within six months they had a cure. It was at this point a separate test facility was opened far away from the original facility. It was under a mountain in the
Even though the ban on the use and stockpiling of chemical and biological weapons has been in force since 1925, factions of many governments have ignored this sanction.
Several years ago a promising young scientist working on a cure for patients infected with flesh-eating bacteria had a major breakthrough. Taking DNA from a simple one-celled Amoeba Proteus and transplanting it into a common virus, he was able to create an organism that would basically eat the bacteria. The theory was that the body would then respond to the virus by producing enough white blood cells to destroy the virus.
Cultured bacteria quickly succumbed to the virus in the Petri dish. White blood cells introduced to the virus quickly overwhelmed it. Testing on animal subjects went well. Mice, cats, dogs and even primates all responded well within the parameters to justify further testing. The drug had a ninety percent cure rate. The other ten percent suffered from a reaction to the medication and had to be taken off treatment. In these subjects, the infection ran it’s course inevitably ending in death. Still, a ninety percent cure rate was an amazing result. The drug was to be a success. It was time to gain approval to begin trials on humans.
There weren’t a lot of cases of people being infected with flesh-eating bacteria. The people that suffered from this disease were mainly in third world nations. This drug wasn’t projected to be a money maker for the pharmaceutical company backing the research. It was to be a public relations project. The drug was anything but that.
The pharmaceutical company took the trial phase world wide. Three hundred participants were recruited for testing. Half of these were given the new drug while the other half were given a placebo. Great results were expected. A huge media campaign was started. The pharmaceutical company boasted that results would be fast. It was projected that in one to two months, the one hundred and fifty participants receiving the placebo would be switched over to the new drug AmbeoPro.
Within a week the one hundred and fifty patients receiving the drug were dead. White blood cell production could not keep up with the spread of the virus. The virus just spread faster in the human body. It was as if the virus was starving for blood. High fever and hemorrhaging soon occurred. Patients just bled out. The patients taking the placebo were deemed to be lucky not to have gotten AmbeoPro. They still had a slight chance of surviving the disease. Millions of dollars would be paid in lawyers fees and settlements. The pharmaceutical company could afford all of this. It was their image they were worried about. The promising young scientist was disgraced. He was promptly fired.
Within a month he had a new job. The scientist was approached by a splinter faction of the CIA. He was told his new drug was seen as a possible bio-weapon. The research he had done could fall into the wrong hands and they needed him to reverse engineer a cure for the new virus. This was true. The CIA did want a cure for the new virus. They also wanted to stock-pile the virus for national security reasons. The virus could not be transmitted person to person. It could be introduced into an enemy nation’s water supply. They saw this as a way to destroy an enemy without ever having to go to battle. We could win a war without ever firing a shot. We could win without having any casualties.
He was set up with a lab in Saudi Arabia to avoid prying eyes. Progress was swift. Within six months they had a cure. It was at this point a separate test facility was opened far away from the original facility. It was under a mountain in the
Similar Books
