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By Category: Biological Weapons

Hearing set for ricin-laced letters suspect

(DenverPost) Federal authorities don’t want bond set for a Texas woman accused of mailing ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama threatening violence against gun-control advocates. Shannon Richardson’s detention hearing is set for Thursday in Texarkana. She’s been in custody since her June 7 arrest. Authorities say the 35-year-old pregnant actress sent the letters to Obama Read More »

June 20, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, and Bioterrorism
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DARPA Develops Tiny Helpers To Spot Bioterror Attacks

(InformationWeek) The government might soon have at its disposal highly sensitive gas analyzers that can detect chemical or biological attacks, atomic clocks the size of chips, and micro-vacuum tubes. A group of researchers funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently developed a new class of powerful, tiny vacuum pumps that could be Read More »

June 14, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Alchemists Gone Bad: What You Should Know About Biological Warfare

(Discover) Spears. Bows and arrows. Swords. Guns. Bombs. Drones. Microbes. The evolution of weapons and forms of warfare shadows our technological advancements, from the field of metallurgy to that of microbiology. Biological warfare has existed for thousands of years: cheap and easy, it is often referred to as the “poor man’s nuclear bomb.” Few supplies Read More »

June 13, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, and Bioterrorism
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Iranian general warns of bio-warfare

(WND) Viruses can be turned into easily concealed weapons with high epidemic powers that could contaminate food, water and animals, Iran has warned. Gen. Gholamreza Jalali, head of Iran’s Passive Defense Organization, in a recent event discussing defensive and offensive measures for cyber-attacks and viruses, talked about the strategic importance of using viruses as weapons Read More »

June 4, 2013
| Filed under Middle East, North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, International, and Policy & Initiatives
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Notable Contracts: DTRA Award to Institute for Systems Biology

(GlobalBiodefense) The Department of Defense this week announced a notable contract award related to the field of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defense or life science research of interest for potential applications in biodefense: Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a $7,665,557 cost-type contract for research into pre-symptomatic detection of post-operative Read More »