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By Category: Agents & Toxins

Professor granted $500K for research

(Herald Star) A biology professor at West Liberty University has received $500,000 to research a dangerous pathogen that could potentially be used for biological warfare due to its highly infectious quality. Professor Joseph Horzempa received a $250,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health and an additional $250,000 grant from West Virginia Idea Network of Read More »

November 26, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, and Research
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Smallpox virus detected in 300-year-old Siberian mummy

(LA Times) Thanks to vaccination efforts, smallpox — killer of hundreds of millions people around the world over the course of the 20th century alone — was eradicated in 1979. But even today the lethal variola virus, which causes the disease, is not completely impossible to come by. A team of French and Russian researchers Read More »

November 23, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, and Research
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PhilHealth says it has enough funds to help dengue victims

(Inquirer News) The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. has assured the public that it has enough funds to help dengue victims after the number of dengue cases in the country rose by 25 percent. Doctor Eduardo Banzon, PhilHealth president and chief executive officer, said the agency provides P8,000 for each case of dengue fever or simple Read More »

November 23, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Engineered bacteria can make the ultimate sacrifice

(Science Codex) Scientists have engineered bacteria that are capable of sacrificing themselves for the good of the bacterial population. These altruistically inclined bacteria, which are described online in the journal Molecular Systems Biology, can be used to demonstrate the conditions where programmed cell death becomes a distinct advantage for the survival of the bacterial population.

November 21, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biotechnology, and Research
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A Single Dose of Medicago’s H5N1 VLP Vaccine Protects Against Additional Pandemic Flu Strains in a Preclinical Study

(Market Watch) Medicago Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced results from an independent preclinical study on the cross-protection effects of Medicago’s H5N1 VLP vaccine candidate (“H5N1 VLP vaccine”). The study was conducted under the National Institute of Allergy Read More »