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By Category: Research

Lab-engineered bird flu virus may be less deadly than thought — or not

(Washington Post) Osterholm and Relman are on the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, a 23-member committee that advises the federal government on issues involving biological research that can be used for nefarious purposes. In December, the panel asked the …

March 5, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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The risks and benefits of publishing mutant flu studies

(Nature.com) Research describing two mutant strains of H5N1 avian influenza that spread between mammals is likely to be published in its entirety. Nature examines the controversial decision. Two teams of scientists, led by Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center in …

March 5, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Senior US Lawmaker Leaps Into H5N1 Flu Controversy

(Science AAAS) After months of silence from members of Congress, a senior member of the US House of Representatives has publicly inserted himself into the debate over two controversial studies that showed how to make the H5N1 avian influenza virus transmissible …

March 5, 2012
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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NSABB Members React to Request for Second Look at H5N1 Flu Studies

(Science AAAS) The comments below come after months of rapid-fire developments in the H5N1 flu research controversy. It began late last year, when the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) recommended that two science teams delete key details from …

March 5, 2012
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Kansas biosafety lab risk miniaturized

(Nature.com) The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has revised dramatically downward the risk of the lethal Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) escaping from a controversial proposed high-level animal biosafety lab in rural Kansas.