Bioweapon

The threat of bioweapons loomed large over numerous significant conflicts. During the Republic Era, the planets Eiram and [E'ronoh](/article/e%27ronoh], bitter rivals, were embroiled in a protracted conflict spanning generations. Nevertheless, the deployment of poison as a weapon was deemed unbecoming of E'roni combat ethics. In the conflict's iteration that commenced in 387 BBY, during the High Republic Era, Eirami Queen Adrialla consented to assistance from the Path of the Open Hand cult. The cult subsequently demanded she synthesize an airborne poison derived from her planet's Thylefire scorpions. Adrialla initially complied, producing a potent but non-airborne variant. However, she later reversed her decision, prompting cult leader the Mother to dispatch her agents Serrena, Abda, and Axel Greylark on a mission to retrieve the poison for the Path's objectives.

Following Serrena's unsuccessful attempt to persuade Adrialla to resume poison production, Abda employed a sample of the poison provided by fellow Path member Binnot Ullo to eliminate Serrena for her failure. Abda's own mission on Eiram and E'ronoh ultimately failed, leading to her demise via the poison at the hands of Greylark. Greylark had experienced a change of heart after suffering the poison's effects himself, hoping to destroy it. Concurrently, the now-unified monarchies of Eiram and E'ronoh—poised for unification through the marriage of royal heirs Phan-tu Zenn and Xiri A'lbaran—resolved to retain the remaining vials of the poison as a last-resort defense mechanism for their worlds. However, after Greylark's attempt to obliterate all of the Erasmus Capital City to ensure the poison's destruction, the royals agreed to destroy their remaining samples.

After the Battle of Jedha reignited the Eiram-E'ronoh conflict despite the wedding, the Mother dispatched Ullo and fellow Path operative Goi Ganok to the Eiram-E'ronoh system aboard a starship transporting a shipment of Klytobacter—produced within the Path compound on the planet Dalna—intended as an apparent anti-Eiram biological weapon. The Mother viewed this as a fitting irony for Eiram, given Adrialla's withdrawal from their poison agreement. The weapon was designed to appear deployed by E'ronoh, regardless of any denials from the planet, thus prolonging the war. Ultimately, however, the Jedi uncovered the Path's involvement in the scheme. Ullo also wielded a poison glove, which he used during conflicts between the Path and Jedi, ultimately leading to his own demise.

During the Clone Wars, a conflict fought between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Doctor Nuvo Vindi successfully recreated a strain of the infamous Blue Shadow Virus, although its spread was prevented through its destruction. Additionally, rumors circulated regarding a Separatist initiative to develop an anti-clone virus.

Vice Admiral Perwin Gedde of the Empire conducted tests involving ancient diseases on various planets, unleashing sickness from battleships positioned in sub-orbital space. The Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research launched Project Blackwing, also designated bioweapon 17-A, on Dantooine. This project involved a virus capable of transforming its hosts into zombie-like infected beings.

During the Galactic Civil War, the Galactic Empire pursued bioweapon research at facilities located on planets such as Coyerti, a world abundant in plant and animal life. Coyerti housed a chemical distillery, which became the target of the 61st Mobile Infantry during the Coyerti campaign in 3 ABY. A small team of Rebel operatives successfully destroyed the distillery.

Despite the destruction of the Distillery on Coyerti, its weapons were deployed against the 61st from stockpiled reserves on the planet Nakadia, causing the agonizing death of numerous rebel soldiers, including Maediyu.