Sergei Popov is a scientist and bioweaponeer formerly in the

Soviet biological weapons program The Soviet Union covertly operated the world's largest, longest, and most sophisticated biological weapons program, thereby violating its obligations as a party to the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention.Leitenberg, M., Zilinskas, R., & Kuhn, J. ...

. He defected to the West in 1992 and now lives and works in the United States.

Biography

After obtaining his degree in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

, Popov served as a division head at the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology (known as "Vector") and at Obolensk, both branches of the Soviet bio-weapons program dedicated to developing genetically enhanced products. His position led him to expand his researches into the fields of

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

and microbiology. Popov worked at Vector from 1976 to 1986 and at Obolensk from 1986 until 1992. His work included "designer"

bio-agent A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism ...

s that would cause the symptoms of lupus and

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are invol ...

, in which a victim's

auto-immune In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease". P ...

system attacks its own body. His team inserted genes into viruses to make protein fragments of

myelin Myelin is a lipid-rich material that surrounds nerve cell axons (the nervous system's "wires") to insulate them and increase the rate at which electrical impulses (called action potentials) are passed along the axon. The myelinated axon can be ...

(the sheathing around nerves). Victims that became infected would develop multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system. By splicing myelin into ''

Legionella ''Legionella'' is a genus of pathogenic gram-negative bacteria that includes the species '' L. pneumophila'', causing legionellosis (all illnesses caused by ''Legionella'') including a pneumonia-type illness called Legionnaires' disease and a mil ...

'' ( Legionnaires' disease), they also created an agent that caused brain damage, paralysis and

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

. The recombinant ''Legionella'' was very infectious and lethal with only a few cells causing disease. At Oblensk, Popov and his team spliced the

diphtheria toxin Diphtheria toxin is an exotoxin secreted by '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae'', the pathogenic bacterium that causes diphtheria. The toxin gene is encoded by a prophageA prophage is a virus that has inserted itself into the genome of the host ...

gene into the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

bacterium, thus creating a highly virulent and deadly strain. Popov has described Biopreparat's " Project Bonfire", whose goal was to develop antibiotic-resistant microbial strains, and " Project Factor", whose goal was to create microbial weapons with new biologic properties that would result in high virulence, improved stability, and new clinical syndromes.Popov, S (2000)
"Interview: Serguei Popov"
, '' J Homeland Security'', 13 November 2000; Accessed on 1 May 2011. In 1992, Popov defected to the United Kingdom and later traveled to the United States. He worked for Hadron, Inc. in microbiology and pharmacology and at George Mason University.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Russian biochemists Soviet biochemists 20th-century biologists Soviet biological weapons program Soviet defectors to the United Kingdom People related to biological warfare {{US-scientist-stub