The Bush administration, banking on science to protect the nation from a catastrophic terrorist attack, has launched a vast research and development enterprise that will span many years and possibly decades. On the drawing boards is one of the most ambitious and far-reaching U.S. research projects in recent history, involving more than a dozen federal agencies that are managing work by thousands of scientists at hundreds of institutions and laboratories across the nation. At least $7 billion this year is slated for high-tech efforts to shore up defenses against a terrorist attack using biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. Federal agencies are investing $3.5 billion in research and development and as much as $3.4 billion in high-tech spending for vaccine supplies and improvements to the public health system, an analysis of the federal budget shows. “Science is the big advantage the West has over these people who would throw us back to the Stone Age,” said Dr. Penrose “Parney” Albright, assistant secretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security. “We will have a research establishment devoted to our priorities … to stay ahead of the threat.” Full Story
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