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By Category: Research

How Do You Stop a Synthetic-Biology Disaster?

(Synthetic Biology Project) WASHINGTON – Experts say at least $20 million to $30 million in government research is needed over the next decade to adequately identify and address the possible ecological risks of synthetic biology, an emerging area of research focused on the design and construction of new biological parts and systems, or modification of Read More »

March 1, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biotechnology, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Op-Ed – Balancing Research Capability, Oversight, and Communication Post the H5N1 Controversy

Applied Biosafety, the journal of the American Biological Safety Association has provided the following pre-publication release of an editorial addressing the H5N1 publication controversy, with recommendations for strengthening biosafety and biosecurity at the institutional level. It will be published in print in Applied Biosafety, in Volume 17.1 March 31, 2012. Over the past months, numerous Read More »

February 29, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Boston Lab Poses “Extremely Low” Public Health Risk, New Study Finds

(Global Security Newswire) A U.S. government study released on Friday found that a state-of-the-art biodefense laboratory built in Boston would for the most part pose an “extremely low” public health danger if it is authorized to conduct research with some of the world’s most dangerous disease agents, Nature reported. The National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratories Read More »

February 29, 2012
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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US disease agency in fiscal peril

(Nature.com) Core funding is also used to maintain the Strategic National Stockpile, a repository of drugs reserved for fighting epidemics and bioterrorism. If Obama’s plan is enacted, the CDC’s congressionally controlled funding will have fallen by roughly 20% …

February 29, 2012
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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NIH-supported scientists investigate a newly emerging staph strain

(NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) Using genome sequencing and household surveillance, National Institutes of Health scientists and their colleagues from Columbia University Medical Center and St. George’s University of London have pieced together how a newly emerging type of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria has adapted to transmit more easily among humans. Their new study Read More »