Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-211) and index.

Biological agents can be made into weapons of mass destruction / Scott P. Layne and Michael H. Sommer -- Biological agents should not be considered weapons of mass destruction / Gregg Easterbrook -- Biological weapons pose a serious danger to Americans / Tara O'Toole and Donald A. Henderson -- Americans should not be overly worried about biological weapons / Henry I. Miller and Sherri Ferris -- Anthrax is a serious threat / Sallie Baliunas -- The threat of anthrax has been exaggerated / Steven Milloy -- Foreign terrorist groups and rogue nations are a serious biological warfare threat / Frank J. Cilluffo -- Domestic terrorists constitute a potentially serious biological warfare threat / Jessica Stern -- Russian research programs are a potential wellspring of biological weapons proliferation / Wendy Orent -- American research programs are a potential wellspring of biological weapons proliferation / Edward Hammond -- The United States must spend more on high-tech defenses against biological warfare / David Stipp -- Spending more on high-tech defenses will not protect Americans against biological warfare / Katherine Eban -- Reforms of public health laws are necessary to combat bioterrorism / Lawrence O. Gostin -- Proposed law reforms to combat bioterrorism jeopardize civil liberties / Twila Brase -- All Americans should be vaccinated against smallpox / Louis Warren -- Not all Americans need to be vaccinated against smallpox / Steven Black -- A voluntary smallpox vaccination program is best / Paul W. Ewald -- The United States should accept the Biological Weapons Convention protocol / Council for a Livable World -- The United States should reject the Biological Weapons Convention protocol / John R. Bolton -- Nuclear deterrence can prevent biological warfare / David G. Gompert -- Nuclear deterrence should not be used to prevent biological warfare / Thomas Graham Jr. -- All known stocks of the smallpox virus should be destroyed / Donald A. Henderson and Frank Fenner -- Known stocks of the smallpox virus should be retai