Despite the vital importance of the emerging area of biotechnology and its role in defense planning and policymaking, no definitive book has been written on the topic for the defense policymaker, the military student, and the private-sector bioscientist interested in the "emerging opportunities market" of national security. This edited volume is intended to help close this gap and provide the necessary backdrop for thinking strategically about biology in defense planning and policymaking. This volume is about applications of the biological sciences, here called "biologically inspired innovations," to the military. Rather than treating biology as a series of threats to be dealt with, such innovations generally approach the biological sciences as a set of opportunities for the military to gain strategic advantage over adversaries. These opportunities range from looking at everything from genes to brains, from enhancing human performance to creating renewable energy, from sensing the environment around us to harnessing its power.

Foreword / Andrew W. Marshall ; Part I. Perspectives on biological warfare. Biotech impact on the warfighter / Thomas X. Hammes -- New biological advances and military medical ethics / Edmund G. Howe -- The life sciences, security, and the challenge of biological weapons: an overview / Michael Moodie -- Biological warfare: a warfighting perspective / John B. Alexander ; Part II. Biomolecular engineering. Abiotic sensing / James J. Valdes ... [et al.] -- Biosensors and bioelectronics / Dimitra Stratis-Cullum and James Sumner -- Bioenzymes and defense / Adrienne Huston -- Bioenergy: renewable liquid fuels / Michael Ladisch -- Bio-inspired materials and operations / Erica R. Valdes ; Part III. Bio-inspired machines. Learning unmanned vehicle control from echolocating bats / Eric W. Justh -- Neurorobotics: neurobiologically inspired robots / Jeffrey Krichmar -- Biomimetic, sociable robots for human-robot interaction / Eleanore Edson, Judith Lytle, and Thomas McKenna -- Biomechanically inspired robotics / John Socha and Justin Grubich -- Biological automata and national security / Yaakov Benenson ; Part IV. Human applications. Enhanced human performance and metabolic engineering / James J. Valdes and James P. Chambers -- Functional neuroimaging in defense policy / Richard Genik III, Christopher Green, and David C. Peters II -- Forging stress resilience: building psychological hardiness / Paul Bartone -- Neuroplasticity, mind fitness, and military effectiveness / Elizabeth Stanley -- Bio-inspired network science / Joô Hespanha and Francis Doyle III ; Part V. Implications for the Department of Defense. Ethics and the biologized battlefield: moral issues in 21st-century conflict / William D. Casebeer -- Legal issues affecting biotechnology / Joseph Rutigliano, Jr. -- Building the nonmedical bio workforce for 2040 / Timothy Coffey and Joel Schnur ; Conclusion.