Recent News

By Category: Policy & Initiatives

US to Seek University Input on New Dual Use Reviews

(Science Now) The U.S. government will soon be asking university officials to comment on how best to implement recently released dual use research rules at the university level, a senior U.S. science official announced today. “What needs to be ironed out and will be ironed out is how [dual use reviews are] sorted out at Read More »

May 3, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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MBTA to run bioterrorism tests in subway tunnels during summer 2012

(My Fox Boston) BOSTON – Homeland Security agents plan to run a terror test on the MBTA by releasing bacteria into local subway tunnels. The test will check if new safety sensors are working, but will the move put riders at risk? Several sensors designed to sniff out airborne attacks on the “T” have already Read More »

May 2, 2012
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Exploring Options For NBAF

(KCUR) It’s another big week for NBAF, the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility under construction in Manhattan, Kan. A panel of experts from the National Academy of Sciences will be hearing expert testimony about the animal health lab in three teleconferences, beginning tomorrow. And the project’s future may be at stake because this committee is Read More »

May 2, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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NIH preparing tool to help labs cope with new DURC policy

(CIDRAP News) Federal officials are working on guidance to help local institutions implement the government’s new policy on the oversight of life-sciences dual-use research of concern (DURC), an official from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said today. Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the NIH, Read More »

May 2, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Extended H5N1 Moratorium?

(Scientist) A US science official recommends extending moratorium on bird flu studies as well as other types of risky research. Despite positive recommendations by the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) and the US Department of Health and Human Services to publish in full the results of two H5N1 studies that managed to make Read More »