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By Category: Biosafety

US bioethics panel approves bird flu studies

(BBC News) A US panel has approved the publication of two controversial H5N1 bird flu studies, after they were revised. The studies, funded by the US government, created strains of the virus that spread easily among ferrets. The US National Security Advisory …

April 2, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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U.S. to Scrutinize More Weapon-Sensitive Biological Studies

(Global Security Newswire) The United States is set under rules unveiled on Thursday to methodically assess possible threats linked to U.S.-financed research incorporating any of 15 “high consequence” biological agents and substances, Science magazine reported. The plan would expand an existing mechanism under which the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control Read More »

April 2, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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US biosecurity board revises stance on mutant-flu studies

(Nature.com) Today, after a two-day meeting, the board decided to revise its earlier decision. The NSABB unanimously recommended full publication of one of the two disputed papers, a manuscript submitted to Nature by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and his colleagues. “We at Nature are delighted,” said editor-in-chief Philip Campbell. “Subject to Read More »

April 2, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, International, Public Health, and Research
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NSABB reverses recommendation on H5N1 studies

(CIDRAP News) – A federal advisory board today reversed its stance on publishing two controversial H5N1 transmission papers today, recommending that both studies be published in full. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) met yesterday and today to discuss revised versions of the studies by two groups, one from the University of Wisconsin, Read More »

April 2, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Policy On High-Risk Biological Research Tightened

(NPR – Audio) The Obama administration has announced a new policy to handle the risks posed by legitimate biological research that could, in the wrong hands, threaten the public. The move comes in response to a huge debate over recent experiments on bird flu virus that got funding from the National Institutes of Health. Critics Read More »