Commercial Possibilities

Abstract

The early microbiological work conducted at Porton Down was for military purposes, firstly to study the feasibility of BW then to develop the weapons themselves. This caused the Porton scientists to amass a huge amount of information about the behaviour of pathogenic microbes and the associated technologies for their culture and safe handling. The memory of these origins began to wane a little in the post-war years and when offensive work ceased with the UK’s change of policy in the late 1950s to one whereby it would no longer work on the development of biological weapons of mass destruction, some of the skills at Porton began to find civil applications. In his ‘History of Porton’, Lt. Col. A. E. Kent wrote of MRE in 1960:

Microbiological research required for bacteriological warfare is close to that for true medical research. In effect, the normal research carried out by MRE is that required to understand and control disease. The results can be used for the good of mankind since they can be made available for the use of medical science…

Thus, the menace of microbiology for mass destruction turned its hand to medical applications. This has led to many of the discoveries at Porton Down being developed into products for the commercial market, particularly vaccines and biotherapeutic products derived from highly dangerous bacteria.