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By Category: Research

‘Universal’ vaccines could finally allow for wide-scale flu prevention

(ScienceDaily) Scientists have found that an emerging class of long-lasting flu vaccines called “universal” vaccines could for the first time allow for the effective, wide-scale prevention of flu by limiting the virus’ ability to spread and mutate. A computational model showed that the vaccines could achieve unprecedented control of the flu virus both seasonally and Read More »

February 29, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, Public Health, and Research
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Webcast: H5N1 Research Discussion from the ASM Biodefense Meeting

Watch Tomorrow’s Complimentary Live Stream of the H5N1 Research Discussion from the ASM Biodefense Meeting! Moderated by the Chair of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB), Paul Keim, Ph.D., this newly added session at the ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting will include discussions of the NSABB’s recommendations for the publication of Read More »

February 28, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Cutting-edge research dulled by lack of funding

(Denton Record Chronicle) In 2000, after more than a decade of research to genetically engineer and modify a toxin to target tumor cells, her team realized the cancer research had brought them to the doorstep of a vaccine for something else — ricin, an extremely toxic protein …

February 28, 2012
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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New influenza virus discovered in Guatemalan fruit bats

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) A new influenza A virus discovered in fruit bats in Guatemala does not appear to present a current threat to humans, but should be studied as a potential source for human influenza, according to scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who worked with University of the Read More »

February 28, 2012
| Filed under North America, Public Health, and Research
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Dual Use Research

(The New York Academy of Sciences) The two papers describe two genetically engineered mutant strains of the avian influenza virus H5N1. The described mutant viruses are easily capable of mammal-to-mammal transmission in a ferret model, thus raising the threat of feasible and dangerous …