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Biological weapons | United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs

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United Nations·un.org/disarmament/biological-weapons/

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High(4)

High quality. Established institution or organization with editorial oversight and accountability.

Rating inherited from publication venue: United Nations

Relevant to AI safety discussions around biosecurity and catastrophic risks, as AI-enabled bioweapon development is considered a near-term existential threat requiring robust international governance frameworks.

Metadata

Importance: 45/100guidance documentreference

Summary

The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) provides an overview of international efforts to prohibit biological weapons, centered on the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). It outlines the treaty's history, member states, verification challenges, and ongoing multilateral disarmament diplomacy. The page serves as an authoritative reference for understanding the global governance framework around biological threats.

Key Points

  • •The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), opened in 1972, was the first multilateral treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction.
  • •UNODA supports BWC implementation, confidence-building measures, and intersessional meetings among state parties.
  • •Unlike chemical weapons, the BWC lacks a formal verification mechanism, posing significant compliance and enforcement challenges.
  • •Dual-use biological research and advances in biotechnology create ongoing proliferation risks that the treaty must adapt to address.
  • •The page links to treaty documents, state party lists, and resources on biosafety and biosecurity governance.

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Biological weapons | United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Biological weapons 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 Biological weapons disseminate disease-causing organisms or toxins to harm or kill humans, animals or plants. They can be deadly and highly contagious. Diseases caused by such weapons would not be confined to national borders and could spread rapidly around the world. The consequences of the deliberate release of biological agents or toxins by state or non-state actors could be dramatic.

 The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) effectively prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons. It was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Activities of the Implementation Support Unit support efforts to strengthen the implementation of the Convention.

 What are biological weapons? 

 Biological weapons disseminate disease-causing organisms or toxins to harm or kill humans, animals or plants. 
They generally consist of two parts – a weaponized agent and a delivery mechanism. In addition to strategic or tactical military applications, biological weapons can be used for political assassinations, the infection of livestock or agricultural produce to cause food shortages and economic loss, the creation of environmental catastrophes, and the introduction of widespread illness, fear and mistrust among the public.

 Weaponized agent 

 Almost any disease-causing organism (such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, prions or rickettsiae) or toxin (poisons derived from animals, plants or microorganisms, or similar substances produced synthetically) can be used in biological weapons. The agents can be enhanced from their natural state to make them more suitable for mass production, storage, and dissemination as weapons. Historical biological weapons programmes have included efforts to produce: aflatoxin; anthrax; botulinum toxin; foot-and-mouth disease; glanders; plague; Q fever; rice blast; ricin; Rocky Mountain spotted fever; smallpox; and tularaemia, among others.

 Delivery mechanism 

 Biological weapons delivery systems can take a variety of forms. Past programmes have constructed missiles, bombs, hand grenades and rockets to deliver biological weapons. A number of programmes also designed spray-tanks to be fitted to aircraft, cars, trucks and boats. There have also been documented efforts to develop delivery devices for assassinations or sabotage operations, including a variety of sprays, brushes and injection systems as well as means for contaminating food and clothing.

 Technological advances 

 In addition to concerns that biological weapons could be developed or used by States, recent t

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