Recent News

By Region: North America

Science Academies Issue ‘G-Science’ Statements to Call World Leaders’ Attention to Global Challenges

(NationalAcademies) Science academies from around the globe issued joint statements today to call world leaders’ attention to the role science, technology, and innovation can play in the pursuit of sustainable development, and to raise their awareness of the emerging threat of drug resistance in infectious agents including tuberculosis. The “G-Science” statements are intended to inform Read More »

May 30, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Genetic engineering alters mosquitoes’ sense of smell

(EurekAlert) In one of the first successful attempts at genetically engineering mosquitoes, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have altered the way the insects respond to odors, including the smell of humans and the insect repellant DEET. The research not only demonstrates that mosquitoes can be genetically manipulated using the latest research techniques, but paves Read More »

May 29, 2013
| Filed under Africa, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, Public Health, and Research
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Experimental Drug Could Treat Child Bioterrorism Victims

(GlobalSecurityNewswire) The United States on Friday announced a $17.7 million push to secure federal licensure of an experimental antibiotic officials believe could treat young victims of anthrax or tularemia bacteria. Announcement of the two-year research and development deal with a North Carolina pharmaceutical firm came weeks after congressional investigators warned that minors could have only Read More »

May 29, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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New H7N9 bird flu virus easily develops drug resistance

(CBC News) Resistance to the main flu drug Tamiflu seems to develop with some ease in infections with the new H7N9 bird flu, a concerning new study says. The work, published in the journal The Lancet, suggests that if this virus were to become easily transmitted among people, there might be minimal tools with which Read More »

May 29, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, Public Health, and Research
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Sugar polymer on cell surface of multiple pathogens could be key to developing broad-spectrum vaccine

(ScienceDaily) Developing new vaccines to protect against diseases that plague humans is fraught with numerous challenges — one being that microbes tend to vary how they look on the surface to avoid being identified and destroyed by the immune system. However, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) have discovered a sugar polymer that is Read More »