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By Category: Research

Scientists bid to develop anthrax vaccine to counteract world bioterrorism threat

(Medical Xpress) Working with scientists from the Republic of Georgia, Turkey and the USA, Professor Les Baillie from Cardiff University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is leading a NATO project to tackle the potential misuse of anthrax. “Currently the majority of the world’s population is susceptible to infection with Bacillus anthracis the bacterium which Read More »

September 18, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Public Health, and Research
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Bio-weapon surveillance system under attack in Beltway

(Fox News) Terrorist organizations continue to call for biological weapons attacks on the U.S., experts warn, yet our early warning system for bioterrorism is under attack in the Beltway. BioWatch, launched in 2003 as the nation’s first early detection and warning system for biological attacks, scans for dangerous pathogens in urban areas and at key Read More »

September 18, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Bioterrorism, Public Health, and Research
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Flu antibodys ‘one-handed grab’ may boost effort toward universal vaccine, new therapies

(EurekAlert) Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and Sea Lane Biotechnologies have solved the co-crystal structure of a human antibody that can neutralize influenza viruses in a unique way. The antibody recognizes the crucial structure that flu viruses use to attach to host cells, even though previously this structure had been thought too small for Read More »

September 17, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Public Health, and Research
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Biohacking Healthcare

(Forbes) Here’s a fairly new term for the healthcare lexicon – biohacking. Wikipedia files their entry under the single category of human biology. The entry itself is very brief and, at least according to Wikipedia, there are two meanings: the art of managing one’s own biology using a combination of medical, nutritional, electronic, and Quantified Read More »

September 14, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biotechnology, Public Health, and Research
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West Nile outbreak stresses lab testing limits, delays diagnosis

(NBC News) A spike in West Nile virus infections in the U.S. this summer has strained the nation’s laboratory testing capabilities, creating brief shortages of diagnostic test kits and forcing lab staffers in some states to work extra shifts or rely on temporary hires for help. The outbreak has surged to at least 2,636 cases Read More »