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By Category: Research

Reinventing Project BioShield

(Science Now) In the wake of the fall 2001 anthrax letter attacks, protecting against future bioterrorism attacks became a top priority for the US government, resulting in the creation of Project BioShield. This effort was intended to make available effective …

September 2, 2011
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Taking Stock of the Biodefense Boom

(Science Now) The anthrax mailings that petrified Americans soon after the 9/11 attacks a decade ago this fall, killing five people and sickening 17, led to an explosion of biodefense research in the United States. Nearly $19 billion has been spent—a huge increase …

September 1, 2011
| Filed under North America, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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News tips from the journal mBio®

(American Society for Microbiology) New strategy for developing rapid diagnostics; how Q fever invades and replicates inside killer immune cells; protein necessary for bacteria to produce ulcers; and same conditions, different outcome in fungal infection.

September 1, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, and Research
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Dangerous gaps remain in nation’s bioterrorism preparedness, report says – Washington Post (blog)

Family Practice News Digital NetworkDangerous gaps remain in nation's bioterrorism preparedness, report saysWashington Post (blog)(DANIEL HULSHIZER/ASSOCIATED PRESS) A decade after envelopes containing anthrax terrorized the nation and alerted officials to the need to protect against bioterrorism, significant gaps remain in the nation's capacity to respond to a bioterrorism …Complacency, lack of funds weaken US defense Read More »

September 1, 2011
| Filed under Research
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From mild-mannered to killer plague

(Northwestern University) How did a bacterium that causes mild stomach irritation rapidly evolve into a deadly assassin responsible for the most devastating pandemics in human history? New DNA sequencing techniques reveal how Yersinia pseudotuberculosis became Yersinia pestis, otherwise know as the plague. The new study offers a glimpse into how the new technology might aid Read More »