Germs Gone Wild; How the Unchecked Development of Domestic Biodefense Threatens America

[4], 508 pages. Notes. Index. DJ has a slight crease at the rear flap. Kenneth King holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University. King has taught writing at colleges and universities in Kentucky, Missouri, and Illinois, clerked for the Hon. Eugene Siler, Jr. of the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and worked as a staff attorney for the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund. He was on the faculty at Western Kentucky University before resigning to complete Germs Gone Wild. 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 was 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." The greed that drove the development of these labs has effectively counteracted any checks by the government and universities. The reality of these labs and the germs they manipulate are brought to light, as King examines the controversies surrounding plants from Maryland to Boston and Utah, to the Department of Homeland Security's National Bio-and-Agro-Facility (NBAF) project, and the precautions-or lack thereof-being taken to protect us from a deadly pandemic. First Pegasus Books Cloth Edition [stated]. First Printing [stated].…