Virtual Biosecurity Center

The eighth wonder: developments in synthetic biology

(ScienceOmega) The UK life science industry has become a significant focus area for research and development in recent years, which is hardly surprising given that the industry generates a turnover of just over £50bn. Recognising the significance of the sector, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) published the ‘Strategy for UK Life Sciences’ in December 2011, setting out a series of directives aimed at advancing life sciences. A progress report released a year later showed that in 12 months £1bn in revenue had been generated through industry and private sector investment,2 further highlighting the importance of life sciences to the Read More »
- June 14, 2013 |
- Filed Under Biotechnology, Research
University of Toronto breakthrough allows fast, reliable pathogen identification

(EurekAlert) Life-threatening bacterial infections cause tens of thousands of deaths every year in North America. Increasingly, many infections are resistant to first-line antibiotics. Unfortunately, current methods of culturing bacteria in the lab can take days to report the specific source of the infection, and even longer to pinpoint the right antibiotic that will clear the infection. There remains an urgent, unmet need for technologies that can allow bacterial infections to be rapidly and specifically diagnosed.
- June 13, 2013 |
- Filed Under Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, Public Health, Research
Ebola’s secret weapon revealed

(VirtualMedicalCentre) Researchers have discovered the mechanism behind one of the Ebola virus’ most dangerous attributes: its ability to disarm the adaptive immune system. University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston scientists determined that Ebola short-circuits the immune system using proteins that work together to shut down cellular signaling related to interferon. Disruption of this activity, the researchers found, allows Ebola to prevent the full development of dendritic cells that would otherwise trigger an immune response to the virus.
- May 30, 2013 |
- Filed Under Agents & Toxins, International, Public Health, Research
Op-Ed – Improving Intelligence on Emerging Bioweapons Threats: New Engagements Needed Between Intelligence and Academia

Kathleen M. Vogel, Associate Professor, Department of Science and Technology Studies and the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, Cornell University Since the end of the Cold War and the rise of asymmetric security threats, the U.S intelligence and policy communities have been increasingly concerned about new types of bioweapons attacks that might arise from a spectrum of state and non-state actors. In a 1995 U.S. Senate hearing, CIA official Gordon Oehler lamented that, “the increasingly troubled post–Cold War world has, in a curious way, made us yearn for the dark days of the 1960s and 1970s when we knew Read More »
- January 16, 2013 |
- Filed Under Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, International, Policy & Initiatives
Op-Ed – With the Changing Biological threat…smart international engagement policy would lower cost and increase national security.

David R. Franz, DVM, Ph.D. Former Commander US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases “There is no technical solution…”: In 1998, after we understood the enormity of the Soviet offensive program and the potential of the Iraqi one to disrupt, Nobel Laureate Joshua Lederberg said, “There is no technical solution to this problem of biological warfare. It needs an ethical, human and moral solution, if it’s going to happen at all….” Then he paused and said, “But would an ethical or moral solution appeal to a sociopath?” The early days of the biological Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program were similar Read More »
- November 13, 2012 |
- Filed Under Biological Weapons, Countermeasures, International, Policy & Initiatives

Browse by region

Browse By Category

A Single Amino Acid Change Switches Avian Influenza H5N1 and H7N9 Viruses to Human Receptors

(WatchingTheWatchers) Two back-to-back papers were published last week that provide a detailed analysis of what it would take for avian influenza H5N1 and H7N9 viruses to switch to human receptors. Influenza virus initiates infection by attaching to the cell surface, a process mediated by binding of the viral hemagglutinin protein (HA) Read More »

June 14, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Agriculture, Public Health, and Research
Share

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 Read More »

June 14, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
Share

Update: Severe Respiratory Illness Associated with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

(CDC) CDC continues to work in consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners to better understand the public health risk posed by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), formerly known as novel coronavirus, which was first reported to cause human infection in September 2012 (1–4). The continued Read More »

June 14, 2013
| Filed under Europe, Middle East, North America, International, and Public Health
Share

Scientists Debate New Study on GMO-Fed Pigs

(FoodSafetyNews) Science commentators involved in the genetically modified food debate have weighed in on a new study that says pigs fed genetically modified grains suffered a higher rate of severe stomach inflammation and developed heavier uteri.

June 14, 2013
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, and Research
Share

University of Toronto breakthrough allows fast, reliable pathogen identification

(EurekAlert) Life-threatening bacterial infections cause tens of thousands of deaths every year in North America. Increasingly, many infections are resistant to first-line antibiotics. Unfortunately, current methods of culturing bacteria in the lab can take days to report the specific source of the infection, and even longer to pinpoint the right antibiotic Read More »