Proposta de protocolos de segurança para a prevenção, a contenção e a neutralização de agente agressor bioativo em incidentes bioterroristas e estudo por docking molecular do fator letal do Bacillus anthracis (Antraz)

Abstract

For centuries, infectious agents have been used as weapons in armed conflicts. In 1972 the Biological Weapons Convention prohibited the creation and stockpiling of biological weapons. However, some countries continued to research and develop these weapons. Proof of this fact was the crash in 1979 in a military factory in the USSR, where Bacillus anthracis were dispersed. Biotechnology in a globalizing world facilitates and contributes not only to the development of weapons programs of regular armies, but also to terrorist groups. Examples of such this are the contamination by the bacterium Salmonella typhimurium by a religious fanatic group that in 1984 poisoned 751 people in the U.S., and the bacterium Bacillus anthracis spores mailed in the U.S. to several people during 2001 and 2002, immediately after the attacks of September 11th. A biological weapon is of extreme difficult detection by security equipment. Most infectious agents are present in almost every continent, making it easier to obtain. The production is cheap and it is easy to carry, being a small amount enough to reach very large area and thousands of people. It is an invisible weapon, odorless and causes symptoms unknown to most physicians. So, given this background, in this master thesis we attempt to demonstrate the reality of the threat of a biological weapon based on Anthrax as the biological agent used as a weapon of mass destruction. Based on this study, we show the fragility of the state system for dealing with such incidents, and we propose security protocols in order to regulate what should be done in time of crisis, defining its management and streamline the decision-making. Finally, using the technique of molecular docking, we also studied the lethal factor of anthrax, and proposed the compound 1-Phenylsulfonyl-2-propanone (DARXOJ, C9H10O3S) as a good candidate to inhibit its effects.