University of Bradford academics Dr Michael Crowley and Professor Malcolm Dando have published a book urging urgent global action to prevent weaponisation of neuroscience through converging advances in AI, pharmacology, and related fields.
Their book, Preventing Weaponization of CNS-acting Chemicals: A Holistic Arms Control Analysis, warns that chemical “neuro-weapons” targeting the brain and central nervous system are becoming feasible. AI-driven modelling can optimise drug delivery for behavioural control, while pharmacological innovations enable precise disruption of neural pathways.
“We are entering an era where the brain itself could become a battlefield,” said Dr Crowley. “The tools to manipulate the central nervous system, to sedate, confuse, or even coerce, are becoming more precise, more accessible, and more attractive to states.”
The authors trace state-sponsored research from Cold War CIA and Soviet experiments to the 2002 Moscow theatre siege. On 26 October 2002, Chechen militants held over 800 hostages at the Dubrovka Theatre Center for nearly three days. Russian forces pumped aerosolised carfentanil and remifentanil into the building, neutralising the attackers but killing 129 hostages, mainly due to the gas and inadequate medical response including delayed naloxone.
Current treaties contain loopholes. The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (1975) prohibits offensive biological agents but uses a general-purpose criterion that fails to address synthetic pharmaceuticals or AI-enhanced systems. The Chemical Weapons Convention bans toxic chemicals in warfare yet permits law enforcement use, allowing incidents like Moscow under riot control interpretations.
“The same knowledge that helps us treat neurological disorders could be used to disrupt cognition, induce compliance, or even in the future turn people into unwitting agents,” said Professor Dando.
“There are dangerous regulatory gaps within and between these treaties,” said Dr Crowley. “Unless they are closed, we fear certain States may be emboldened to exploit them in dedicated CNS and broader incapacitating agent weapons programmes.”
2025 advances in AI-accelerated biomolecular prediction, brain survival circuit mapping, and neuroimaging enable faster design of aerosolised CNS-targeting compounds originally developed for therapy.
To counter this, the authors propose Holistic Arms Control integrating international humanitarian law, human rights law, UN drug conventions, medical ethics, scientific codes of conduct, and AI ethics guidelines.
Recommended measures include:
- Establishing a dedicated OPCW working group on CNS-acting and incapacitating agents
- Updating treaty definitions, guidance, monitoring, and verification
- Embedding dual-use awareness and ethics training in relevant education
- Encouraging scientists and civil society to monitor treaty implementation
Crowley and Dando are presenting these proposals at the 30th Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention in The Hague this weekend.
“We need to move from reactive to proactive governance,” said Professor Dando. “The science is moving fast. Our regulatory systems need to catch up.”
“This is a wake-up call,” said Dr Crowley. “We must act now to protect the integrity of science and the sanctity of the human mind.”
