Project Bacchus

Project Bacchus was a covert investigation by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency US Defense Department to determine whether it is possible to construct a bioweapons production facility with off-the-shelf equipment.

History

The project

Project Bacchus operated from 1999-2000 to investigate whether would-be terrorists could build an anthrax production facility and remain undetected. During the two-year simulation, the facility was constructed, and successfully produced an anthrax-like bacterium. The participating scientists were able to make about 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of highly refined bacterial particles.

Reportage

The secret Project Bacchus was disclosed in a September 2001 article in The New York Times. Reporters Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg and William J. Broad collaborated on the article. Shortly after it appeared, they published a book containing further details. The book, Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, and the article are the only publicly available sources concerning Project Bacchus and its sister projects, Clear Vision and Jefferson.

Further reading

• Tucker, Jonathan B. "Biological Threat Assessment: Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease?", Arms Control Today, October 2004, accessed January 6, 2009.
• Miller, Judith, Engelberg, Stephen and Broad, William J. Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, (Google Books), Simon & Schuster, 2002, (ISBN 0684871599).
• -- "U.S. Germ Warfare Research Pushes Treaty Limits", The New York Times, September 4, 2001, accessed January 6, 2009.