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By Category: Research

Bioengineers debate use of military money

(Nature.com) By transforming microbes into miniature chemical factories, synthetic biology could lead to cheaper medicines, greener fuels and, to the distress of some in the field, cleaner weapons. Last month, the US military asked synthetic biologists to look for more environmentally friendly ways to manufacture explosives, prompting a round of soul-searching about the field’s dependence Read More »

November 23, 2011
| Filed under North America, Biological Weapons, Biotechnology, and Research
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Antibody Neutralizes Ebolavirus

(Laboratory Equipment) Although not as contagious as influenza or measles, ebolaviruses can be transmitted in bodily fluids including exhaled airborne droplets, and scientists who study these viruses are generally required to use special “Biosafety Level 4” facilities. …

November 23, 2011
| Filed under Africa, North America, Biosafety, Public Health, and Research
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Pentagon Biodefense Initiative Seeks Successor to Antibiotics

(GSN Daily News) The U.S. Defense Department is seeking proposals for a system that incorporates nanotechnology to develop biological-weapon countermeasures within roughly one week, Wired magazine reported on Monday (see GSN, Jan. 20). The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s

November 23, 2011
| Filed under North America, Biological Weapons, Countermeasures, and Research
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Risk Experts Convene on Environment, Engineering and Security

(Newswise) South Carolina, in early December to present new studies and scientific approaches to support decision making on chemical, food safety, public health, communications, engineering, bioterrorism, climate change and other risks facing human health, …

November 23, 2011
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Engineering a Deadly Flu

(The Scientist) The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity is investigating a research group that succeeded in making the avian influenza (H5N1) highly contagious in the lab, according to a post on NPR’s health blog. The researchers, led by virologist Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, induced five mutations that rendered Read More »