Germs Gone Wild: How the Unchecked Development of Domestic Bio-Defense Threatens America

Description

Battling a new generation of corporate giants and uncovering threats right in our own backyard, Kenneth King's Germs Gone Wild reveals the massive expansion of America's bio-defense research labs and the culture of deception surrounding hundreds of facilities that have opened since 9/11. King experienced the menace of bio-defense research firsthand when local government and business leaders tried to lure a new facility to his hometown in Kentucky. Researching the safety claims, he not only found many of them to be completely false, but was also horrified by the lack of oversight and the recklessness with which these labs genetically modified pathogens like smallpox, Ebola, and influenza without a care for what happened to the public if there was ever a "leak." And yet the greed that drove the development of these labs has effectively counteracted any cautionary checks by the government and universities. All have been seduced by the economic gains and corporate stipends that come with compliance and turning a blind eye. But now, the reality of these labs and the germs they manipulate will finally be brought to light, as King examines the controversies surrounding plants from Maryland to Boston and Utah, to the Department of Homeland Security's dubious National Bio-and-Agro-Facility (NBAF) project, and the precautions-or lack thereof-being taken to protect us all from a deadly pandemic.

Kenneth King holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska and a JD from Vanderbilt School of law. King teaches at Western Kentucky University.

"As a chronicle of the development of America's largely unseen biodefense infrastructure, King's book is intriguing; the author combines meticulous research and unshakable faith." -- Publishers Weekly "A superb guided tour of the demented world of twenty-first century bioweapons research in America, where dangerous new labs seem to pop up on every street corner, the lines between offense and defense blur, and people who question the wisdom and safety of it all are derided by their own government." -- Ed Hammond, former director of the Sunshine Project