Weapons of mass destruction
By type
Biological, Chemical, Nuclear, Radiological
By country
Albania Algeria Argentina Australia Brazil Bulgaria Burma Canada China (PRC) France Germany India Iran Iraq Israel Japan Libya Mexico Netherlands North Korea Pakistan Poland Romania Russia Saudi Arabia South Africa Sweden Syria Taiwan (ROC) Ukraine United Kingdom United States
Proliferation
Biological, Chemical, Nuclear, Missiles
Treaties
List of treaties
Book · Category
v t e

Biological warfare (also known as germ warfare) is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons (often termed "bio-weapons" or "bio-agents") are living organisms or replicating entities (viruses) that reproduce or replicate within their host victims. Entomological (insect) warfare is also considered a type of biological warfare.

Biological weapons may be employed in various ways to gain a strategic or tactical advantage over an adversary, either by threats or by actual deployments. Like some of the chemical weapons, biological weapons may also be useful as area denial weapons. These agents may be lethal or non-lethal, and may be targeted against a single individual, a group of people, or even an entire population. They may be developed, acquired, stockpiled or deployed by nation states or by non-national groups. In the latter case, or if a nation-state uses it clandestinely, it may also be considered bioterrorism.^[1]

There is an overlap between biological warfare and chemical warfare, as the use of toxins produced by living organisms is considered under the provisions of both the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention. Toxins and Psychochemical weapons are often referred to as midspectrum agents. Unlike bioweapons, these midspectrum agents do not reproduce in their host and are typically characterized by shorter incubation periods.^[2]

Overview[link]

Offensive biological warfare, including mass production, stockpiling and use of biological weapons, was outlawed by the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). The rationale behind this treaty, which has been ratified or acceded to by 165 countries as of 2011, is to prevent a biological attack which could conceivably result in large numbers of civilian fatalities and cause severe disruption to economic and societal infrastructure.^{[citation needed]} Many countries, including signatories of the BWC, currently pursue research into the defense or protection against biological warfare, which is not prohibited by the BWC.

A nation or group that can pose a credible threat of mass casualty has the ability to alter the terms on which other nations or groups interact with it. Biological weapons allow for the potential to create a level of destruction and loss of life far in excess of nuclear, chemical or conventional weapons, relative to their mass and cost of development and storage. Therefore, biological agents may be useful as strategic deterrents in addition to their utility as offensive weapons on the battlefield.^[3][4]

As a tactical weapon for military use, a significant problem with a biological warfare attack is that it would take days to be effective, and therefore might not immediately stop an opposing force. Some biological agents (especially smallpox, plague, and tularemia) have the capability of person-to-person transmission via aerosolized respiratory droplets. This feature can be undesirable, as the agent(s) may be transmitted by this mechanism to unintended populations, including neutral or even friendly forces. While containment of biological warfare transmission is less of a concern for certain criminal or terrorist organizations, it remains a significant concern for the military and civilian populations of virtually all nations.

History[link]

Rudimentary forms of biological warfare have been practiced over and over again throughout history. Many examples are recorded from Antiquity.^[5] During the 6th century BC, the Assyrians poisoned enemy wells with a fungus that would render the enemy delirious. In 184 DC, Hannibal of Carthage had clay pots filled with venomous snakes and instructed his soldiers to throw the pots onto the decks of Pergamene ships.

Historical accounts from medieval Europe detail the use of infected animal carcasses, by Mongols, Turks and other groups, to infect enemy water supplies. Prior to the bubonic plague epidemic known as the Black Death, Mongol and Turkish armies were reported to have catapulted disease-laden corpses into besieged cities. The last known incident of using plague corpses for biological warfare purposes occurred in 1710, when Russian forces attacked the Swedes by flinging plague-infected corpses over the city walls of Reval (Tallinn).

The British army at least once attempted to use smallpox as a weapon, when they gave contaminated blankets to the Lenape during Pontiac's War (1763–66). It is suspected, but not confirmed, that biological warfare was used against the Indians at other times as well.

The advent of the germ theory and advances in bacteriology brought a new level of sophistication to the theoretical use of bio-agents in war. Biological sabotage – in the form of anthrax and glanders — was undertaken on behalf of the Imperial German government during World War I (1914–1918), with indifferent results.^[6] Use of such bioweapons was banned in international law by the Geneva Protocol of 1925. (The 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) extended the ban to almost all production, storage and transport. However, both the Soviet Union and Iraq, at a minimum, secretly defied the treaty and continued research and production of offensive biological weapons, despite being signatories to it. Major public proof of the Soviet program, called Biopreparat, came when Dr. Kanatjan Alibekov, its first deputy director, defected to the U.S. in 1992.^[7])

During the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and World War II (1939–1945), the Special Research Units of the Imperial Japanese Army, such as Unit 731, conducted human experimentation on thousands of Chinese, among others. In its military campaigns, the Japanese used biological warfare on Chinese soldiers and civilians. This employment has been largely viewed as ineffective due to inefficient delivery systems. However, firsthand accounts testify that the Japanese infected civilians through the distribution of plagued foodstuffs and newer estimates suggest over 580,000 victims, largely due to plague and cholera outbreaks.

In response to suspected biological warfare development in Nazi Germany, the U.S., U.K., and Canada initiated a biological warfare development program in 1941 that resulted in the weaponization of anthrax, brucellosis, and botulism toxin. (Fear of the German program turned out to be vastly exaggerated.) The center for U.S. military biological warfare research was Fort Detrick, Maryland.^[8] The biological and chemical weapons developed during that period were tested at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. Research carried out in the U.K. during World War II left Gruinard Island in Scotland contaminated with anthrax for the next 48 years.

Considerable research into biological warfare was undertaken throughout the Cold War era (1947–1991) by the U.S., U.K. and U.S.S.R., and probably other major nations as well, although it is generally believed that such weapons were never used. This view was challenged by China and North Korea, who accused the U.S. of large-scale field testing of biological warfare against them during the Korean War (1950–1953), but this claim has been discredited as wartime propaganda. The U.S. maintained a stated national policy of never using biological warfare under any circumstances since an Executive Decision in November 1969, by President Richard Nixon. In 1972, the U.S., U.K., U.S.S.R., and many other nations signed the BWC, which banned "development, production and stockpiling of microbes or their poisonous products except in amounts necessary for protective and peaceful research." By then, the U.S. and U.K. had transparently destroyed all their bioweapons stockpiles. By 2011, 165 countries had signed the treaty and none are known-though some are still suspected-^[9] to possess any biological weapons.^[9]

Today, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, more than ten countries are suspected to have continuing offensive biological warfare programs, including Russia, Israel, China, Iran, Syria and North Korea. Offensive biological warfare programs in Iraq were dismantled after the first Gulf War (1990–1991). Libya dismantled and disavowed its biological warfare program in 2003. The fate of the vast network of clandestine sites comprising the old Soviet biological warfare program, as well as its many tons of weaponized smallpox, remains undocumented.

Modern biological warfare operations[link]

Offensive[link]

It has been argued that rational people would never use biological weapons offensively. The argument is that biological weapons cannot be controlled: the weapon could backfire and harm the army on the offensive, perhaps having even worse effects than on the target. An agent like smallpox or other airborne viruses would almost certainly spread worldwide and ultimately infect the user's home country. However, this argument does not necessarily apply to bacteria. For example, anthrax can easily be controlled and even created in a garden shed. Also, using microbial methods, bacteria can be suitably modified to be effective in only a narrow environmental range, the range of the target that distinctly differs from the army on the offensive. thus only the target might be affected adversely. The weapon may be further used to bog down an advancing army making them more vulnerable to counter attack by the defending force.

Anti-personnel[link]

The international biological hazard symbol

Ideal characteristics of a biological agent to be used as a weapon against humans are high infectivity, high virulence, non-availability of vaccines, and availability of an effective and efficient delivery system. Stability of the weaponized agent (ability of the agent to retain its infectivity and virulence after a prolonged period of storage) may also be desirable, particularly for military applications.

The primary difficulty is not the production of the biological agent, as many biological agents used in weapons can often be manufactured relatively quickly, cheaply and easily. Rather, it is the weaponization, storage and delivery in an effective vehicle to a vulnerable target that pose significant problems.

For example, Bacillus anthracis is considered an effective agent for several reasons. First, it forms hardy spores, perfect for dispersal aerosols. Second, this organism is not considered transmissible from person to person, and thus rarely if ever causes secondary infections. A pulmonary anthrax infection starts with ordinary influenza-like symptoms and progresses to a lethal hemorrhagic mediastinitis within 3–7 days, with a fatality rate that is 90% or higher in untreated patients.^[10] Finally, friendly personnel can be protected with suitable antibiotics.

A large-scale attack using anthrax would require the creation of aerosol particles of 1.5 to 5 microns: larger particles would not reach the lower respiratory tract, while smaller particles would be exhaled back out into the atmosphere. At this size, conductive powders tend to aggregate because of electrostatic charges, hindering dispersion. So the material must be treated to insulate and neutralize the charges. The weaponized agent must be resistant to degradation by rain and ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, while retaining the ability to efficiently infect the human lung. There are other technological difficulties as well, chiefly relating to storage of the weaponized agent.

Agents considered for weaponization, or known to be weaponized, include bacteria such as Bacillus anthracis, Brucella spp., Burkholderia mallei, Burkholderia pseudomallei, Chlamydophila psittaci, Coxiella burnetii, Francisella tularensis, some of the Rickettsiaceae (especially Rickettsia prowazekii and Rickettsia rickettsii), Shigella spp., Vibrio cholerae, and Yersinia pestis. Many viral agents have been studied and/or weaponized, including some of the Bunyaviridae (especially Rift Valley fever virus), Ebolavirus, many of the Flaviviridae (especially Japanese encephalitis virus), Machupo virus, Marburg virus, Variola virus, and Yellow fever virus. Fungal agents that have been studied include Coccidioides spp..^[11][12]

Toxins that can be used as weapons include ricin, staphylococcal enterotoxin B, botulinum toxin, saxitoxin, and many mycotoxins. These toxins and the organisms that produce them are sometimes referred to as select agents. In the United States, their possession, use, and transfer are regulated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Select Agent Program.

Anti-agriculture[link]

Anti-crop/anti-vegetation/anti-fisheries:
Biological warfare can also specifically target plants to destroy crops or defoliate vegetation. The United States and Britain discovered plant growth regulators (i.e., herbicides) during the Second World War, and initiated an herbicidal warfare program that was eventually used in Malaya and Vietnam in counter insurgency. Though herbicides are chemicals, they are often grouped with biological warfare as bioregulators in a similar manner as biotoxins.^{[citation needed]} Scorched earth tactics or destroying livestock and farmland were carried out in the Vietnam war (cf. Agent Orange)^[13] and Eelam War in Sri Lanka.^{[citation needed]}

The United States developed an anti-crop capability during the Cold War that used plant diseases (bioherbicides, or mycoherbicides) for destroying enemy agriculture. It was believed that destruction of enemy agriculture on a strategic scale could thwart Sino-Soviet aggression in a general war. Diseases such as wheat blast and rice blast were weaponized in aerial spray tanks and cluster bombs for delivery to enemy watersheds in agricultural regions to initiate epiphytotics (epidemics among plants). When the United States renounced its offensive biological warfare program in 1969 and 1970, the vast majority of its biological arsenal was composed of these plant diseases.^{[citation needed]}

Biological weapons also target fisheries as well as water-based vegetation.

Anti-livestock:
In 1980s Soviet Ministry of Agriculture had successfully developed variants of foot-and-mouth disease, and rinderpest against cows, African swine fever for pigs, and psittacosis to kill chicken. These agents were prepared to spray them down from tanks attached to airplanes over hundreds of miles. The secret program was code-named "Ecology".^[11]

Attacking animals is another area of biological warfare intended to eliminate animal resources for transportation and food. In the First World War, German agents were arrested attempting to inoculate draft animals with anthrax, and they were believed to be responsible for outbreaks of glanders in horses and mules. The British tainted small feed cakes with anthrax in the Second World War as a potential means of attacking German cattle for food denial, but never employed the weapon. In the 1950s, the United States had a field trial with hog cholera.^{[citation needed]} During the Mau Mau Uprising in 1952, the poisonous latex of the African milk bush was used to kill cattle.^[14]

Unconnected with inter-human wars, humans have deliberately introduced the rabbit disease Myxomatosis, originating in South America, to Australia and Europe, with the intention of reducing the rabbit population – which had devastating but temporary results, with wild rabbit populations reduced to a fraction of their former size but survivors developing immunity and increasing again.

Entomological warfare[link]

Entomological warfare (EW) is a type of biological warfare that uses insects to attack the enemy. The concept has existed for centuries and research and development have continued into the modern era. EW has been used in battle by Japan and several other nations have developed and been accused of using an entomological warfare program. EW may employ insects in a direct attack or as vectors to deliver a biological agent, such as plague or cholera. Essentially, EW exists in three varieties. One type of EW involves infecting insects with a pathogen and then dispersing the insects over target areas.^[15] The insects then act as a vector, infecting any person or animal they might bite. Another type of EW is a direct insect attack against crops; the insect may not be infected with any pathogen but instead represents a threat to agriculture. The final method uses uninfected insects, such as bees, wasps, etc., to directly attack the enemy.^[16]

Defensive[link]

Research and development into medical counter-measures[link]

This section requires expansion.

In 2010 at The Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and Their Destruction in Geneva^[17] the sanitary epidemiological reconnaissance was suggested as well-tested means for enhancing the monitoring of infections and parasitic agents, for practical implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005). The aim was to prevent and minimize the consequences of natural outbreaks of dangerous infectious diseases as well as the treat of alleged use of biological weapons against BTWC States Parties.

Role of public health and disease surveillance[link]

It is important to note that all classical and modern biological weapons organisms are animal diseases, the only exception being smallpox. Thus, in any use of biological weapons, it is highly likely that animals will become ill either simultaneously with, or perhaps earlier than humans.

Indeed, in the largest biological weapons accident known– the anthrax outbreak in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) in the Soviet Union in 1979, sheep became ill with anthrax as far as 200 kilometers from the release point of the organism from a military facility in the southeastern portion of the city (known as Compound 19 and still off limits to visitors today, see Sverdlovsk Anthrax leak).

Thus, a robust surveillance system involving human clinicians and veterinarians may identify a bioweapons attack early in the course of an epidemic, permitting the prophylaxis of disease in the vast majority of people (and/or animals) exposed but not yet ill.

For example in the case of anthrax, it is likely that by 24–36 hours after an attack, some small percentage of individuals (those with compromised immune system or who had received a large dose of the organism due to proximity to the release point) will become ill with classical symptoms and signs (including a virtually unique chest X-ray finding, often recognized by public health officials if they receive timely reports). By making these data available to local public health officials in real time, most models of anthrax epidemics indicate that more than 80% of an exposed population can receive antibiotic treatment before becoming symptomatic, and thus avoid the moderately high mortality of the disease.

Identification of bioweapons[link]

The goal of biodefense is to integrate the sustained efforts of the national and homeland security, medical, public health, intelligence, diplomatic, and law enforcement communities. Health care providers and public health officers are among the first lines of defense. In some countries private, local, and provincial (state) capabilities are being augmented by and coordinated with federal assets, to provide layered defenses against biological weapons attacks. During the first Gulf War the United Nations activated a biological and chemical response team, Task Force Scorpio, to respond to any potential use of weapons of mass destruction on civilians.

The traditional approach toward protecting agriculture, food, and water: focusing on the natural or unintentional introduction of a disease is being strengthened by focused efforts to address current and anticipated future biological weapons threats that may be deliberate, multiple, and repetitive.

The growing threat of biowarfare agents and bioterrorism has led to the development of specific field tools that perform on-the-spot analysis and identification of encountered suspect materials. One such technology, being developed by researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), employs a "sandwich immunoassay", in which fluorescent dye-labeled antibodies aimed at specific pathogens are attached to silver and gold nanowires.^[18]

In the Netherlands, the company TNO has designed Bioaerosol Single Particle Recognition eQuipment (BiosparQ). This system would be implemented into the national response plan for bioweapons attacks in the Netherlands.^[19]

Researchers at Ben Gurion University in Israel are developing a different device called the BioPen, essentially a "Lab-in-a-Pen", which can detect known biological agents in under 20 minutes using an adaptation of the ELISA, a similar widely employed immunological technique, that in this case incorporates fiber optics.^[20]

Synthetic biological warfare[link]

Theoretically, novel approaches in biotechnology, such as synthetic biology could be used in the future to design novel types of biological warfare agents.^{[21][22][23][24]} Special attention has to be laid on future experiments (of concern) that:^[25]

1. Would demonstrate how to render a vaccine ineffective;
2. Would confer resistance to therapeutically useful antibiotics or antiviral agents;
3. Would enhance the virulence of a pathogen or render a nonpathogen virulent;
4. Would increase transmissibility of a pathogen;
5. Would alter the host range of a pathogen;
6. Would enable the evasion of diagnostic/detection tools;
7. Would enable the weaponization of a biological agent or toxin

Most of the biosecurity concerns in synthetic biology, however, focused on the role of DNA synthesis and the risk of producing genetic material of lethal viruses (e.g. 1918 Spanish flu, polio) in the lab.^[26][27][28]

List of biological warfare institutions, programs, projects and sites by country[link]

Today, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, more than ten countries are suspected to have continuing offensive biological warfare programs, including Russia, Israel, China, Iran, Syria and North Korea. Offensive biological warfare programs in Iraq were dismantled after the first Gulf War (1990–1991). Libya dismantled and disavowed its biological warfare program in 2003.

United States[link]

• Fort Detrick, Maryland
  • U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories (1943–69)
    • Building 470
    • One-Million-Liter Test Sphere
    • Operation Whitecoat (1954–73)
  • United States Army Medical Unit (1956–69)
  • U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID; 1969–present)
  • U.S. entomological warfare program
    • Operation Big Itch
    • Operation Big Buzz
    • Operation Drop Kick
    • Operation May Day
  • National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC; Projected: 2008)
• Project Bacchus
• Project Clear Vision
• Project SHAD
• Project 112
• Horn Island Testing Station
• Fort Terry
• Granite Peak Installation

United Kingdom[link]

• Porton Down
• Gruinard Island
• Nancekuke
• Operation Vegetarian
• Operation Harness off Antigua, 1948–1949.
• Operation Cauldron off Stornoway, 1952. The trawler Carella accidentally sailed through a cloud of pneumonic plague bacilli (Yersinia pestis) during this trial. It was kept under covert observation until the incubation period had elapsed but none of the crew fell ill.^[29]
• Operation Hesperus off Stornoway, 1953.
• Operation Ozone off Nassau, 1954.
• Operation Negation off Nassau, 1954-5.

Soviet Union and Russia[link]

• Biopreparat (18 labs and production centers)
  • Stepnagorsk Scientific and Technical Institute for Microbiology, Stepnogorsk, northern Kazakhstan
  • Institute of Ultra Pure Biochemical Preparations, Leningrad, a weaponized plague center
  • Vector State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology (VECTOR), a weaponized smallpox center
  • Institute of Applied Biochemistry, Omutninsk
  • Kirov bioweapons production facility, Kirov, Kirov Oblast
  • Zagorsk smallpox production facility, Zagorsk
  • Berdsk bioweapons production facility, Berdsk
  • Bioweapons research facility, Obolensk
  • Sverdlovsk bioweapons production facility (Military Compound 19), Sverdlovsk, a weaponized anthrax center

• Institute of Virus Preparations
• Poison laboratory of the Soviet secret services
• Vozrozhdeniya
• Project Bonfire
• Project Factor

Japan[link]

• Unit 731
• Zhongma Fortress

Iraq[link]

Main articles: Iraqi biological weapons program and Iraq and weapons of mass destruction (passim)

• Al Hakum
• Salman Pak facility
• Al Manal facility

South Africa[link]

• Project Coast
• Delta G Scientific Company
• Roodeplaat Research Laboratories
• Protechnik

List of people associated with biological warfare[link]

See also[link]

Biological warfare portal

• Antibiotic resistance
• Asymmetric warfare
• Biosecurity
• Discredited AIDS origins theories
• Ethnic bioweapon
• Exotic pollution
• Ten Threats
• Yellow rain
• Smallpox blankets
• John W. Powell

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Alibek, K. and S. Handelman. Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World– Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran it. Delta (2000) ISBN 0-385-33496-6
• Appel, J. M. Is all fair in biological warfare? The controversy over genetically engineered biological weapons, Journal of Medical Ethics, Volume 35, pp. 429–432 (2009).
• Crosby, Alfred W., Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900–1900 (New York, 1986).
• Dembek, Zygmunt (editor), Medical Aspects of Biological Warfare; Washington, DC: Borden Institute (2007).
• Endicott, Stephen and Edward Hagerman, The United States and Biological Warfare: Secrets from the Early Cold War and Korea, Indiana University Press (1998). ISBN 0-253-33472-1
• Keith, Jim (1999), Biowarfare In America, Illuminet Press, ISBN 1-881532-21-6 
• Knollenberg, Bernhard, "General Amherst and Germ Warfare," Mississippi Valley Historical Review 41 (1954–1955), 489–494.
• Mangold, Tom and Goldberg, Jeff (1999), Plague Wars: a true story of biological warfare, Macmillan, London, ISBN 0-333-71614-0 
• Maskiell, Michelle, and Adrienne Mayor. "Killer Khilats: Legends of Poisoned Robes of Honour in India. Parts 1 & 2.” Folklore [London] 112 (Spring and Fall 2001): 23–45, 163–82.
• Mayor, Adrienne, Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World. Overlook, 2003, rev. ed. 2009. ISBN 1-58567-348-X.
• Orent, Wendy (2004), Plague, The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World's Most Dangerous Disease, Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, NY, ISBN 0-7432-3685-8 
• Pala, Christopher (19??), Anthrax Island
• Preston, Richard (2002), The Demon in the Freezer, New York: Random House.
• Rózsa, Lajos 2009. The motivation for biological aggression is an inherent and common aspect of the human behavioural repertoire. Medical Hypotheses, 72, 217–219.
• Woods, Lt Col Jon B. (ed.), USAMRIID’s Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook, 6th edition, U.S. Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland (April 2005).
• Zelicoff, Alan and Bellomo, Michael (2005), Microbe: Are we Ready for the Next Plague?, AMACOM Books, New York, NY, ISBN 0-8144-0865-6 

External links[link]

• Biological weapons and international humanitarian law, ICRC
• WHO: Health Aspects of Biological and Chemical Weapons

The Germs are an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, originally active from 1977 to 1980. The band's early lineup consisted of singer Darby Crash, guitarist Pat Smear, bassist Lorna Doom, and their most consistent drummer Don Bolles. Germs have since reformed in 2005 with Shane West replacing Darby Crash. They released only one album, 1979's (GI) (produced by Joan Jett) and were featured the following year in Penelope Spheeris' documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization, which chronicled the Los Angeles punk movement.

The Germs disbanded following Crash's suicide on December 7, 1980. Their music was influential to many later punk rock acts. Pat Smear went on to greater notoriety performing with Nirvana and the Foo Fighters.

In 2005 actor Shane West was cast to play Crash in the Germs biographical film What We Do Is Secret named after a song by the Germs. He performed with Pat Smear, Doom, and Bolles at a production party for the film, after which the Germs re-formed with West as singer. The new lineup of the band has performed a number of tours in the United States, including performances on the 2006 and 2008 Warped Tours.

History[link]

Formation[link]

This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (May 2010)

The band began when Jan Paul Beahm and Georg Ruthenberg decided they should start a band after being kicked out of University High for antisocial behavior, allegedly for using 'mind control' on fellow students. The (initially hypothetical) band was with Beahm (then 'Bobby Pyn,' and later Darby Crash) on vocals, Ruthenberg (then and later called Pat Smear) on guitar, an early member named "Dinky" (Diana Grant) on bass, and Michelle Baer playing drums. This lineup never played in front of a live audience.

In April 1977 the band added Lorna Doom (Teresa Ryan) on bass, with transitional member "Dottie Danger", later famous as Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go's, on drums. Carlisle never actually played with the band, owing to her being sidelined by a bout of mononucleosis for an extended period, and she was replaced by her friend Donna Rhia, real name: Becky Barton, who played three gigs and recorded their first single. Carlisle remained a friend and helper of the band throughout (she can be heard introducing the band on the Germicide: Live At The Whiskey recording, as produced by Kim Fowley), only leaving because her new band, the Go-Go's, was becoming popular and, as she put it, "I was really disturbed by the heroin that was going on."^[4] Nicky Beat, of various noteworthy Los Angeles bands including The Weirdos, also sat in on drums for a time.

The band's first live performance was at the Orpheum Theater. Pat Smear recalled:

The Germs initially drew musical influences from the likes of Iggy Pop, David Bowie, the Ramones, The Runaways, Sex Pistols and New York Dolls. Early on, Smear was the only musically experienced member — Doom survived early performances by sliding a finger up and down the fretboard of her bass while Rhia generally kept a minimal beat on the bass drum, periodically bashing a cymbal.

Early performances were usually marked by raucous crowds made up of the band's friends. As a result, their gigs became notorious for being rowdy and usually verged on a riot.

Recordings[link]

The first single, Forming, was recorded on a Sony 2-track in Pat's garage and arrived back from the pressing plant with the note, "Warning: This record causes ear cancer" printed on the sleeve by the plant staff, much to the band's displeasure. It featured a shambolic but serviceable performance on the A-side and a muddy live recording of Sexboy on the B side, recorded at the Roxy for the Cheech and Chong movie, Up In Smoke. The song was not used in the movie, nor was the band, the only band not to receive a call-back to perform live for the film's "Battle of the Bands" sequence, perhaps due to the fact that the Germs' chaotic Roxy performance had featured an unscripted, full-on food fight.

The Germs, despite most expectations, developed a sound that was highly influential: throughout their career, they would have a reputation as a chaotic live band. Singer Darby Crash often arrived onstage nearly incoherent from drugs, singing everywhere but into the microphone and taunting the audience between songs, yet nevertheless, delivering intense theatrical and increasingly musical performances. The other band members prided themselves on similar problems, with many contemporary reviews citing collapses, incoherence, and drunken vomiting onstage. Fans saw this as part of the show, and indeed, the band presented it as such, even when breaking bottles and rolling in the glass, with the music coming and going.

Smear was revealed to be a remarkably talented and fluid player; much later, after Crash's death, critics finally acknowledged his lyrics as poetic art. Crash's vocals had begun to mold themselves around the style of The Screamers' vocalist Tomata DuPlenty (The Screamers, a huge LA live attraction at the time, never released a record, but covered the Germs song, 'Sex Boy,' at live shows, recordings of which are now widely available on bootleg.) Another strong influence on the band's final sound was Zolar X, a theatrical glitter rock band popular in the Los Angeles area circa 1972–1980. Crash and Smear were enthusiastic fans of the band from the pre-Germs days, and the fast tempos and raw guitar tone of (the historically pre-punk) Zolar X ^[5] are very similar to the sound achieved on later Germs recordings.

The Germs recorded two singles (with alternate tracks), an album-length demo session, and one full-length LP, (GI), each more focused and powerful than the last. Crash was, despite his erratic behavior, generally regarded as a brilliant lyricist (a contemporary critic described him as "ransacking the dictionary"), and the final lineup of Smear, Doom, and Bolles had become a world-class rock ensemble by the recording of (GI), turning in a performance that spurred an LA Weekly reviewer to write, "This album leaves exit wounds." It is considered one of the first hardcore punk records, and has a near-mythic status among punk rock fans. The album was produced by Joan Jett of The Runaways. Some European copies of the album also credit Donny Rose on keyboards (the song, "Shut Down," was recorded live in the studio, and features a melodic, two-fisted piano).

The Germs are featured in Penelope Spheeris's documentary film The Decline of Western Civilization along with X, Black Flag, Fear, Circle Jerks, Alice Bag Band, and Catholic Discipline.

Following the release of their only studio album, (GI), The Germs recorded six original songs with legendary producer Jack Nitzsche for the soundtrack to the film, Cruising, starring Al Pacino. Lorna wrote one of the songs. Only the song "Lion's Share," ended up on the Columbia soundtrack LP: it was featured for about a minute in the movie, during a video-booth murder scene in an S&M club. Other songs from this session did not appear until the 1988 bootleg Lion's Share, along with four tracks from their infamous last show at the Starwood. The Cruising sessions were finally released officially on the CD "(MIA): The Complete Recordings."

Dissolution and suicide of Darby Crash[link]

The end of the band came when Darby replaced Don Bolles with his friend Rob Henley on drums. Crash became increasingly impatient with Don Bolles' antics and fired him.

Shortly after the Germs split, Darby and Pat went on to form the short-lived Darby Crash Band. Circle Jerks drummer Lucky Lehrer joined the band on the eve of their first (sold-out) live performance, when during sound-check, Darby kicked out the drummer they'd rehearsed with. The band, described by Smear as "like the Germs, but with worse players," played only a few gigs to lukewarm reaction before splitting up.

Shortly after that, Crash contacted Smear about a Germs "reunion" show, claiming it was necessary to "put punk into perspective" for the punks on the scene. However, Smear has said Crash told him privately he wanted to earn money for heroin with which to commit suicide. Since Darby had described this scenario many times in the past, Pat did not take him seriously.^[4]

On December 3, 1980, an over-sold Starwood hosted a final live show of the reunited band, including drummer Don Bolles. At one point, Darby told the amazed kids in the audience, "We did this show so you new people could see what it was like when we were around. You're not going to see it again".^[4]

Crash committed suicide December 7, 1980, at age 22. Unreported at the time, Crash had overdosed on China white heroin in a suicide pact with close friend Casey Cola, who ended up surviving. She insists that he did not intend for her to live, nor did he change his mind at the last minute and intend for himself to live. As he lay dying, he attempted to write "Here lies Darby Crash" on the wall, but did not finish. Outside the world of Germs' fans, news of Darby's death was largely overshadowed by the murder of John Lennon the next day. A local news station mistakenly reported that Darby had died from taking too many sleeping pills.

After the end[link]

After the Germs ended Don Bolles played with several other L.A. bands, including Steaming Coils, Celebrity Skin, Vox Pop, Nervous Gender and 45 Grave. In fall 2009 Bolles joined the cast of punks, mods and rockers web series Oblivion.

In 1993, Slash Records released The Germs: Complete Anthology (MIA), with liner notes by Pleasant Gehman.

Pat Smear went on to play with Nirvana in their last year and, after the death of Kurt Cobain, with Mike Watt, and then with the Foo Fighters.

In 1996 a tribute album titled A Small Circle of Friends appeared that featured tracks by Mike Watt, Free Kitten, The Melvins, Meat Puppets, that dog., L7, The Posies, NOFX, Flea, Gumball, and others along with a version of "Circle One" performed by Pat Smear with Hole under the name "The Holez".

Rhino Handmade officially released Live At The Starwood Dec. 3, 1980 on June 14, 2010. The live set was previously unavailable in its entirety. Along with the CD, the release includes an 8½" × 11" replica of the original poster for the show, a reproduction of the handwritten set list and a four-page fanzine with photos and liner notes by Jonathan Gold.^[6]

The Germs film and reformation (2007–present)[link]

A movie about The Germs, What We Do Is Secret, was in production for several years, and premiered June 23, 2007 at the Los Angeles Film Festival.^[7] The film was theatrically released on August 8, 2008. The film stars Shane West in the role of Darby Crash. On MySpace Shane West has his display name as "Shane Wreck", a possible play on Darby Crash.

Smear, Doom, and Bolles reactivated the Germs with West taking over the vocal spot. They played on the 2006 Vans Warped Tour and toured club shows in the US later that summer, and again in 2007. They once again played on the 2008 edition of the tour, August 14–16, on the Vans Old School Stage. Some prominent members of the punk rock community such as Fat Mike and Jello Biafra have been critical of the band's decision to replace Darby Crash with an actor.

In a July 2009 article drummer Don Bolles spoke about the band's plans to re-record old material for a planned box set entitled Lest We Forget: The Sounds Of The Germs.^[8] The band has re-arranged songs from the Germicide live album and songs from the Cruising sessions; they also planned to record several Darby Crash Band songs as well. Live recordings, both old and new would make up the rest of the box set, which Don hoped to release in 2010.^[8] The newly recorded songs are to be released through The Smashing Pumpkins front-man Billy Corgan's new, and currently unnamed, record label. Two songs, "Out of Time" and "Beyond Hurt – Beyond Help," were originally written by Darby Crash and Pat Smear prior to Crash's death, but were never recorded. The songs are to be recorded with Shane West providing vocals.^[9]

Members[link]

Current members

• Pat Smear – guitar (1977–1980, 2005–present)
• Lorna Doom – bass (1977–1980, 2005–present)
• Don Bolles – drums (1978–1980, 2005–present)
• Shane West – vocals (2005–present)

Former members

• Darby Crash – vocals (1977–1980)
• Dottie Danger (Belinda Carlisle) - drums (1977)
• Michelle Baer - drums (1977)
• Donna Rhia - drums (1977)
• Diana Grant - bass (1977)

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• (GI) LP, 1979, Slash Records

Extended plays

• Forming/Sexboy (live) 7", 1977, What? Records
• Lexicon Devil 7" EP, 1978, Slash Records
• What We Do Is Secret EP, 1981, Slash Records

Live albums

• Germicide (aka Live At The Whisky, First Show Ever), 1981, Mohawk/Bomp! Records/ROIR
• Germs Rock 'N' Rule—Recorded Live At The Masque Christmas Party—Whisky A-Go-Go, December 1979, Hollywood, 1986, Xes Records

Compilation Appearances

• Tooth and Nail, 1979, Upsetter Records
• Life Is Beautiful So Why Not Eat Health Foods, 1981, New Underground Records

Compilations of Germs Recordings

• (MIA): The Complete Anthology CD, 1993, Slash/Rhino Records
• Media Blitz, 1993, Cleopatra Records
• Lest We Forget: The Sounds Of The Germs Box set, forthcoming.

Soundtracks

• The Decline of Western Civilization LP, 1980, Slash Records

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rekindling the Punk Flame, article
• Germs interview from Flipside #2, 1977 at Punk Zine Archive
• Germs interview from Flipside #15, 1979 at Punk Zine Archive
• Germs interview from Flipside #26, 1981 at Punk Zine Archive