Recent News

By Category: Research

Lab Fight Raises US Security Issues

(New York Times) Synthetic biology — which includes the development of fuels, organ tissue and tumor-destroying bacteria — became a focus of government and law enforcement agencies after 9/11 and the anthrax attacks that quickly followed it. …

October 24, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biosafety, Biotechnology, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Scientists report major advance in the treatment of Hendra virus

(Boston University Medical Center) A collaborative research team from Boston University School of Medicine, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the University of Texas Medical Branch and Galveston National Laboratory, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, and the National Cancer Institute, reports a breakthrough Read More »

October 20, 2011
| Filed under Agents & Toxins, International, Public Health, and Research
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Testimony of the Honorable Tara O’Toole, MD, MPH before the US Senate

(DHS) Ten years after anthrax was mailed to members of the US Congress and to media organizations, dozens of policy, intelligence, and technical reports have affirmed the viability of terrorist groups using biological weapons to cause death, suffering, …

October 19, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agriculture, Biological Weapons, Biotechnology, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, International, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Why the Anthrax Murders Are Re-Surfacing 10 Years Later

(Gizmodo) Three scientists who recently published their concerns in the Journal of Bioterrorism and Biodefense say that the trace amounts of tin may have been used as a coating to make the anthrax easier to inhale, and that Ivins didn't have the skill required …

October 18, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, Biotechnology, Bioterrorism, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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BU BioLab Triggers Community Concern

(BU Quad) According to the National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratory's (NEIDL) website, there are four levels of increasing containment labeled Biosafety levels 1-4 (BSL-1 to BSL-4) within the facility. BSL-1 and BSL-2 labs are considered low-level …