Biohazard

Acknowledgments

I want to thank Stephen Handelman, who provided me with the voice to tell my story, using his excellent writing skills. I benefited from the added dimension he brought to this book with his knowledge of Russia, but perhaps most of all from his friendship.

Special thanks are due to Joy de Menil, my editor at Random House, whose probing mind and dedication kept us on our toes from start to finish. Much of this book is due to her vision. I am also grateful to Jennifer Guernsey, whose research skills, knowledge of biology, and enthusiasm were invaluable. Both Stephen and I are in her debt. Cynthia Cannell, my agent, deserves special gratitude for perceiving the importance of this project early on and for her tireless marketing work.

Particular thanks are due to Charles Bailey and Bill Patrick, who have provided — and continue to provide — support and advice to a scientific colleague once separated from them by Cold War politics. I am grateful to Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr., for his encouragement and to Vaughan Forrest, a senior staffer with the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, who was among the first to perceive the potential of nonspecific immune defense.

I want to thank Frank Cilluffo, Walter Dorn, Ambassador Jack Matlock, Jr., Susan Simpson, and Jessica Stern for their insight and assistance at various stages of this project. I am grateful to Hal Pas-trick and other colleagues at SRS Technologies for initiating me into the ways of American research and defense and to my new colleagues at Batelle Memorial Institute for providing support with my new scientific projects.

The friendship and support of Olga Deviatkova, Mark Berkovich, Melissa Bailey, Jenny Patrick, Harry H. Horning, and Marat and Sasha Akchurin have made my integration into life in America less difficult than it might otherwise have been. This book is a testament to their support. I must also thank those friends and officials in Russia, Kazakhstan, and the United States who assisted my family in its passage to America. Although I cannot name them here, these pages are a way of expressing my heartfelt appreciation for the risks they took. I wish especially to thank my friend Victor Seemann, a former intelligence colonel (the only one whose name I can mention), whose help in understanding American life was invaluable.

To Lena, the mother of my lovely children, I owe a debt that can never be repaid. Her love and counsel carried over from our life together in the Soviet Union to our resettlement in a new and confusing world. Mira, Alan, and Timur have been a source of constant inspiration to me. As I watch them blossom and grow in the peaceful society they've made their own, I realize they are the real reason for writing this book.

Finally, I wish to dedicate these pages to my parents, as well as to my brother, Bakhit, and my sister, Saule. May their love continue to strengthen me for many years to come.