With offices in Austin , Texas , USA and Hamburg , Germany , the Sunshine Project worked by exposing research on biological and chemical weapons . Typically , it accessed documents under the Freedom of Information Act and other open records laws , publishing reports and encouraging action to reduce the risk of biological warfare . It tracked the construction of high containment laboratory facilities and the dual-use activities of the U.S. biodefense program . Another focus was on documenting government-sponsored research and development of incapacitating " non-lethal " weapons , such as the chemical used by Russia to end the Moscow theater hostage crisis in 2002 . The Sunshine Project was also active in meetings of the Biological Weapons Convention , the main international treaty prohibiting biological warfare
Moscow theater hostage crisis
Moscow theater hostage crisis
Sunshine Project