Recent News

By Category: Agents & Toxins

Black Death plague pit produces first ancient bacterial genome

(Nature News Blog) Bones uncovered in a medieval burial pit used to inter victims of the Black Death have yielded the first genome sequence of an ancient bacterial pathogen, the bubonic plague-causing bacterium Yersinia pestis. The draft genome sequence, published online today in Nature, follows the publication of a short loop of Y. pestis DNA Read More »

October 13, 2011
| Filed under Europe, Agents & Toxins, and Research
Share

General License To Be Issued by OFAC for Food Exports to Iran and Sudan

Also excluded are Rosary/Jequirity peas, the source of ricin's more potent cousin abrin, which although more powerful than ricin is not known, according to the CDC, to have been weaponized or used in terrorist attacks. My favorite part of the new rule …

October 12, 2011
| Filed under Africa, Middle East, North America, Agents & Toxins, and Policy & Initiatives
Share

Video: The Anthrax Files

(ProPublica) This story is a joint project with ProPublica, PBS Frontline and McClatchy. The story will air on Frontline on Oct. 11. Check local listings. WASHINGTON – Months after the anthrax mailings that terrorized the nation in 2001, and long before he became the prime suspect, Army biologist Bruce Ivins sent his superiors an email Read More »

October 12, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, and Public Health
Share

Scientists’ Analysis Disputes FBI Closing of Anthrax Case

(New York Times) The scientists make their case in a coming issue of the Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense. FBI documents reviewed by The New York Times show that bureau scientists focused on tin early in their eight-year investigation, calling it an “element of …

October 10, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, and Bioterrorism
Share

Possible Select Agent Reshuffle Adheres to Biosecurity Panel Findings

(Global Security Newswire) The order was delivered in part to address mounting concerns about US biosecurity policy and procedures. An influx of funding for biodefense activities over the last decade produced worries about the ever-increasing number of sites and personnel …