It is still impossible to know how an array of emerging technologies -- such as custom-built proteins and microscopic containers -- will affect capabilities to manufacture and deliver lethal chemicals banned under international law, scientific advisers to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in a new assessment.

International authorities should continue monitoring the potential of biotechnology to affect enforcement of the Chemical Weapons Convention, even though developments relevant to the production of banned chemical agents "are currently limited," says the final report by a working group of the OPCW Scientific Advisory Board.