THE world could soon face the nightmare of a biological war which

might kill more people than a nuclear exchange and start a series of

planet-wide plagues, according to a new study published today.

Advances in bio-technology could also create strains of deadly spores

against which there would be little or no defence. These would enable

terrorist groups to hold entire cities or even countries to ransom and

bring cheap weapons of mass destruction within the grasp of even the

poorest nations.

Professor Malcolm Dando, of the department of peace studies at

Bradford University, argues in Biological Warfare in the 21st Century

that the West is running out of time to establish an effective policy

aimed at curbing proliferation of biological agents.

A special conference of the 133 signatory states to the existing

Biological Weapons Convention is due to take place in Geneva in

September. Professor Dando fears that the self-interest of certain

powerful nations and the problems of dealing with dual-use technology

may limit its objectives.

He said last night: ''We have to capitalise on the revulsion which

biological agents engender. They are capable of being more destructive

than nuclear weapons. It is a filthy way to wage war.

''The ease with which they could be acquired brings to mind the most

likely scenario of two Third World countries using them in a conflict

which could expand quite easily well beyond their own frontiers.

''For example, an official US report in 1993 concluded that a 12.5

kiloton nuclear warhead exploding over a city might kill between 23,000

and 80,000 people. A warhead which dispensed just 100 kilogrammes of

anthrax spores over the same city could kill between one and three

million.

''A terrorist group could wreak untold havoc with biological

organisms. Fed into a city's water supply, the effects would be

catastrophic.

''It is vital that effective control over their spread and manufacture

be introduced as a matter of urgency. The continuing difficulties of

producing nuclear weapons and the increasing control of chemical weapons

could lead to much greater interest in biological arms. They are easy to

produce and easy to modify to counter any defence.''

Professor Dando said the time to clamp down on biological agents --

already in the hands of at least 10 countries in conflict-prone areas of

the world -- was now.

The one significant advantage a coherent policy would stand in the

near future was that although production was simple, testing of

organisms as weapons was relatively easy to detect. At that stage,

countries breaking any ban would be vulnerable to identification.

The United States last week proposed to spend #2.7m from 1996 on

technology to detect and counter all weapons of mass destruction. The

aim is to produce a system capable of locating and disarming nuclear,

chemical, and biological weapons worldwide by 2002.

The US military already operates a Threat Anticipation Skunkworks in

New Mexico. The top-secret ''black'' project is now believed to be

expanding its remit to analyse Third World approaches to weapons

development.

An airborne sensor which can detect aerosol emissions of chemical or

biological agents at ranges of up to 100 kilometres was deployed during

the 1991 Gulf War.