Resisting proliferation of bioweapons

In 1997 the US Department of Defense (DOD) announced it would launch a $38.5 million "Pathogens Initiative" to fund collaborations between Russian scientists once involved in research on biological weapons and US infectious disease specialists. This project, with two-thirds of funds going to Russian teams, also lessens the chances that skilled Russian scientists, struggling to make ends meet, will "develop connections with parties interested in using their knowledge for hostile purposes."