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By Category: Biological Weapons

Australia Could Support Bioweapon Vaccine Development

(GSN Daily News) The United States has requested support from the government operator of a newly opened biological defense laboratory in Australia to develop vaccines for potential bioterrorism agents, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported last week (see GSN, Sept. 18, 2009). The new $5 million portion of the Australian Animal Health Laboratory is expected to Read More »

November 23, 2011
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Biological Weapons, Countermeasures, and Policy & Initiatives
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Bioengineers debate use of military money

(Nature.com) By transforming microbes into miniature chemical factories, synthetic biology could lead to cheaper medicines, greener fuels and, to the distress of some in the field, cleaner weapons. Last month, the US military asked synthetic biologists to look for more environmentally friendly ways to manufacture explosives, prompting a round of soul-searching about the field’s dependence Read More »

November 23, 2011
| Filed under North America, Biological Weapons, Biotechnology, and Research
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Pentagon Biodefense Initiative Seeks Successor to Antibiotics

(GSN Daily News) The U.S. Defense Department is seeking proposals for a system that incorporates nanotechnology to develop biological-weapon countermeasures within roughly one week, Wired magazine reported on Monday (see GSN, Jan. 20). The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s

November 23, 2011
| Filed under North America, Biological Weapons, Countermeasures, and Research
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Aum Shinrikyo Member Loses Last Appeal of Death Sentence

(GSN Daily News) A Japanese cult member on Monday saw his last appeal of an execution sentence for his role in the 1995 Tokyo subway nerve agent attacks dismissed by Japan’s Supreme Court, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 8). Seichi Endo is the final member of Aum Shinrikyo to be sentenced for involvement in Read More »

November 22, 2011
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, and Policy & Initiatives
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Engineering a Deadly Flu

(The Scientist) The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity is investigating a research group that succeeded in making the avian influenza (H5N1) highly contagious in the lab, according to a post on NPR’s health blog. The researchers, led by virologist Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, induced five mutations that rendered Read More »