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By Category: Bioterrorism

Anthrax in 2001 Letters Was Traced to Maryland by Genetic Mutations

The 2001 anthrax letter attacks panicked the nation. Ten years later, researchers are finally able to discuss how they identified the origins of the deadly bacteria, which they were able to trace to an Army research lab in Maryland.

March 15, 2011
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, and Research
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Scientific Procedures in Anthrax Probe Detailed

Scientific analysts involved in a federal probe of the 2001 anthrax mailings in a report published on Tuesday detailed the genomic methods that led investigators to attribute the deadly attacks to a U.S. Army microbiologist, the Center for Disease Research and Policy reported (see GSN, Feb. 18). The FBI ultimately pinned the mailings on microbiologist Read More »

March 9, 2011
| Filed under Bioterrorism and Research
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Locate, Lockdown, and Eliminate by Col. Randall Larsen

“Locate, lockdown, and eliminate loose nuclear material.” That is the correct strategy for preventing nuclear terrorism. Non-state actors are not capable of enriching uranium or producing plutonium. They can only buy it or steal it. Preventing the theft or sale of this material will prevent a mushroom cloud over an American city. Preventing nuclear terrorism Read More »

March 4, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, and Bioterrorism
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How much has the war on bioterror cost scientists?

A new study challenges the notion that post-9/11 rules which placed stricter limits on pathogens research stymied scientific productivity. In the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, and subsequent anthrax mailings, the US government instituted tougher controls on research into human, animal and plant pathogens and toxins that could be used for nefarious Read More »

March 1, 2011
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, and Research
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Qadhafi May Use Chem, Bio Weapons on Protesters, Ex-Minister Warns

Former Libyan Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Galil warned yesterday that besieged dictator Muammar Qadhafi could use chemical and biological weapons against opposition forces in a last ditch effort to retain control of his regime, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported. “At the end when he’s really pressured, he can do anything,” Galil said to al-Jazeera. “I think Qadhafi Read More »