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By Category: Research

Mideast WMD-Free Zone Inches Forward Amid Gripes About U.S. Role

WASHINGTON — An international meeting in Belgium this month to discuss prospects for banning weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East showed some glimmers of progress, but complaints are mounting that the United States is falling short in its leadership role (see GSN, July 12). (Jul. 22) – Annalisa Giannella, the European Union’s personal Read More »

July 25, 2011
| Filed under Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, North America, and Research
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Army may downsize advanced research testing center

Frederick News Post – The Army may downsize its plans for an advanced research center aimed at pushing biodefense-related vaccines and drugs through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval process. The federal government put the center, called the Medical Countermeasures Test and Evaluation Facility, on the fast track because of the great need for Read More »

July 22, 2011
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, and Research
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Army Touts New System for Identifying Biological Materials

The U.S. Army on Monday said its Edgewood Chemical Biological Center in Maryland has produced a system for rapid determination of potentially dangerous disease materials (see GSN, Nov. 24, 2010). “Remember today, July 14, 2011. You are experiencing the beginning of a revolution,” according to provided remarks from David Chiang, chief executive officer for Sage-N Read More »

July 20, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Countermeasures, and Research
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Anthrax Mailing Suspect’s Lab Lacked Spore-Drying Gear

The airtight “hot suite” in the laboratory of the final suspect in the 2001 anthrax mailings lacked systems capable of freeze-drying fluid anthrax samples into dry spores of the type used in the attacks, the U.S. Justice Department said in court documents filed on Friday (see GSN, May 20). Hazardous materials experts decontaminate one another Read More »

July 19, 2011
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Bioterrorism, and Research
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Genetic Code of E. Coli Is Hijacked by Biologists

(New York Times) Synthetic biology, the quest to hijack living systems and convert them to human-directed goals, is on the march. Last year biologists synthesized the entire genome of a small bacterium and showed how it could successfully infect a second bacterium. Now, in what may be a more significant advance, biologists have shown they Read More »