Eager to stem the brain drain, discover more about the Soviet germ arsenal, and learn from the Russian strides in biological defenses, the Clinton administration has now greatly intensified the effort. While fewer than 120 of the more than 15,000 strains in Vector's virus collection are highly lethal, scientists say any theft or diversion of the most dangerous ones could be catastrophic. The United States has also persuaded Europe and Japan to join the United States in financing the International Science and Technology Center, based in Moscow, which tries to find peaceful work for former weapons scientists. While the payments are less than what the Iranians are said to be offering, American officials believe the stipends are attractive because they allow Russian scientists to stay in their country with friends and family and to collaborate with respected Western researchers on peaceful work. American officials said these contacts and exchanges are providing valuable information about both the Soviet Union's biological programs and current research in Russia.
American officials say the rudimentary programs have already achieved some successes.
The scientific institute at Obolensk, the heart of the program to produce deadly germs, has had no contact with Tehran since last year when the United States greatly expanded its financial support. In the past 10 months close to a hundred Russian scientists from the former Soviet germ warfare program have visited American labs and institutes, and more than a hundred American scientists and officials have visited, many of them on several occasions, the formerly off-limits Russian biological institutes. The Department of Agriculture, at the Pentagon's request, succeeded in buying samples of Uzbekistan's entire collection of plant germs, helping to track strains and create antidotes. American officials say the threat remains significant, and that they are learning every day about new efforts to capitalize on Russia's economic crisis and scientific brain drain. Every time we visit a new Russian institute, we find another Iranian business card.