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By Category: Biosafety

Biosafety concerns for labs in the developing world

(Nature.com) Biocontainment labs across the Asia-Pacific region all too often fail to live up to the term. An inspection of dozens of labs has found that nearly one-third of the biosafety hoods intended to protect workers from deadly pathogens did not work properly — an offence for which a Western lab could be shut down. Read More »

May 23, 2012
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, South Asia, Biosafety, International, and Research
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Researcher death highlights dangers of pathogen work

(New Scientist) A researcher in the US has died of a disease caused by the bacteria he was studying. The tragedy highlights the dangers of research on human respiratory germs. Research on airborne mutants of H5N1 bird flu is currently under an indefinite moratorium, partly over fears of just such laboratory infections. Richard Din was Read More »

May 10, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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The Rise of DIY Scientists: Is It Time for Regulation?

(Washington Lawyer) Emerging science has long presented government with critical if problematic policy choices. In the early stages of most promising new research, it makes no sense to weigh scientists down with punishing regulations that could smother “the next big thing.” Yet if government isn’t actively monitoring the process, or if it delays implementing regulations Read More »

May 9, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Biotechnology, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Another Lab Death, This Time Due To Bacterial Infection – Science Careers Blog (blog)

ScientistAnother Lab Death, This Time Due To Bacterial InfectionScience Careers Blog (blog)Din was working with the bacterium Neisseria meningiditis, a biosafety level 2 pathogen that can trigger fatal meningococcal disease. It's not clear yet how Din became infected with N. meningiditis, nor is it known whether appropriate safety measures …Death by Lab-Acquired Infection?Scientistall 2 news Read More »

May 7, 2012
| Filed under Biosafety
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SF Lab Reviews Safety After Lab Worker Dies

(NBC Bay Area) Lab workers at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs medical center will be urged to get vaccinations for the diseases they study as a precaution as investigators continue looking into a researcher’s death after he handled a rare strain of bacteria, officials said Thursday. Richard Din, the meningitis research associate who died Saturday Read More »