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By Category: Countermeasures

Army Enlists ‘DNA Origami’ to Spot Outbreaks

What do you get when you cross DNA, origami and the body’s natural defenses against disease? The Army’s newest way to spot smallpox outbreaks, apparently. Billions of defense dollars have gone into the military’s quest for sensors that will sniff out “bio-warfare” molecules. But today’s technologies just don’t cut it. In our bodies though, these Read More »

March 10, 2011
| Filed under North America, Biotechnology, Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
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U.S. Touts Faster Anthrax Environmental Testing Method

A newly amended U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report details a new, faster environmental testing process for checking for the presence of live anthrax spores, the Center for Disease Research and Policy reported on Monday, July 20, 2010. The rapid-variability polymerase chain reaction testing process could be used in confirming that a contaminated area has been Read More »

March 9, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biotechnology, and Countermeasures
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AVI BioPharma & Dept. of Defense Successfully Complete Rapid Response Exercise

AVI BioPharma, Inc., a developer of RNA-based therapeutics, announced today the successful completion in 11 days of a second formal rapid response exercise centered around the dengue virus, a potentially fatal pathogen that infects up to 100 million people globally each year. In 2009, AVI successfully completed its first formal TMT rapid response exercise against Read More »

March 1, 2011
| Filed under North America, Biotechnology, and Countermeasures
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HHS awards contracts to develop new flu vaccine technology

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded two contracts today to help make vaccine available more quickly for seasonal flu outbreaks and pandemics. The contracts for advanced development of new types of vaccine and new ways to make flu vaccine known as next-generation recombinant influenza vaccine total $215 million.

March 1, 2011
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, and Public Health
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Abbott shows new pathogen detector

Illinois-based pharmaceutical company Abbott unveiled a new assay system that can accurately detect seventeen different bio-threat pathogens; among different bio-agents targeted in the new test are Bacillus anthracis, E. coli, salmonella, Ebola virus, and avian influenza viruses; the company says the new method provides results in less than eight hours.