Bio Face

New York Times
21 April 1998

Taming the biological beast
by Richard Preston

Preston warns that terrorists and incompetents are experimenting with bio weapons, and soon someone will get it right. Its time to establish some real protection, through public health planning and health surveillance, and to start an open discussion. Smallpox can be made in a bottle and spread with a humidifier - it spreads like lightening and could require the vaccination of up to 20m people. No-one actually knows how to cope with anthrax, and in an emergency, antibiotics would disappear from the shelves immediately. The image combines a gas mask, a skull and crossbones, and a series of dots and circles which I developed to symbolise biological replication.