You can’t see it. You can’t hear it. You can’t smell it. Yet a biological weapon could decimate an entire city. In 1942, the United States government, sanctioned by President Franklin Roosevelt, began a highly classified program to research and develop bioweapons. It was the first in a series of steps, each motivated by fear of powerful enemies, that took the United States down a path to develop a new weapon of mass destruction.

From producer John Rubin, this one-hour American Experience documentary offers an unprecedented look at more than two decades of closed-door meetings, secret test sites, determined scientists, and human subjects that attempted to turn some of the world’s most potent germs into some of the world’s most effective weapons. “It was a turning point in the way America was willing to fight,” says producer John Rubin. “Roosevelt’s decision acknowledged the readiness to use a kind of weapon that military leaders had long shunned as dishonorable.”

Released in 2007. 53 min. American Experience Series, PBS. Documentary film.

THIS IS ONLY A TRAILER.

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