Yes, they were making new medicines, but underneath that cover of legitimacy, they also were inventing new diseases. Products included new, more deadly strains of ancient scourges as well as monstrous chimeras born of the recombinant technologies spawned by genetic engineering. Despite vigorous denials that a weapons program existed, mounting political pressure forced the Soviets to open four Biopreparat sites to Western inspectors.

Malinoski, a physician with a doctorate in microbiology, was responsible for the inspection team's medical support during the mission. "We didn't know what to expect there," he said, referring both to the kinds of infectious organisms they might run into and the unknown skills of Soviet scientists when it came to maintaining safety in "hot" labs. He immunized the team in advance against the most probable and most deadly illnesses and packed a laundry list of medical supplies, including a portable containment facility complete with orange biohazard suits.

GETTING THERE
Malinoski was enthralled by science from an early age. His favorite book growing up was titled Yellow Fever. A biology major at Colby, he spent his junior year in Wales studying oceanography and worked at Jackson Laboratories during and following his senior year. While earning a Ph.D. at Rutgers he decided a medical degree would provide some "real life" applications for his expertise. The Army paid for his medical schooling at the Albany Medical Center in exchange for a commitment of six years with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Md. At one time the heart of America's own bioweapons initiative, the institute has worked strictly on biological warfare defense since 1969, when President Nixon unilaterally abolished the nation's offensive effort, which had started in 1942.

As a clinical investigator at USAMRIID, Malinoski did research to develop and improve vaccines for maladies that Americans might encounter as victims of germ warfare. "I was having a great deal of fun doing that," he said, explaining his value to the 1991 U.S.-British inspection team. "I became familiar with all the materials related to the differences between offensive and defensive research. I had the experience to be another pair of eyes."