Recent News

By Region: North America

Professor granted $500K for research

(Herald Star) A biology professor at West Liberty University has received $500,000 to research a dangerous pathogen that could potentially be used for biological warfare due to its highly infectious quality. Professor Joseph Horzempa received a $250,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health and an additional $250,000 grant from West Virginia Idea Network of Read More »

November 26, 2012
| Filed under North America, Agents & Toxins, Biological Weapons, and Research
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Should we label genetically modified food?

(The Guardian) On the sidelines of the US presidential election, battle lines were drawn on a Californian ballot that has potential implications for broader debates about the challenges of global food security. Proposition 37, which was narrowly defeated (52.8% of voters opposed the measure), would have required mandatory labelling for all genetically engineered food sold Read More »

November 23, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Smallpox virus detected in 300-year-old Siberian mummy

(LA Times) Thanks to vaccination efforts, smallpox — killer of hundreds of millions people around the world over the course of the 20th century alone — was eradicated in 1979. But even today the lethal variola virus, which causes the disease, is not completely impossible to come by. A team of French and Russian researchers Read More »

November 23, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Agents & Toxins, and Research
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PhilHealth says it has enough funds to help dengue victims

(Inquirer News) The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. has assured the public that it has enough funds to help dengue victims after the number of dengue cases in the country rose by 25 percent. Doctor Eduardo Banzon, PhilHealth president and chief executive officer, said the agency provides P8,000 for each case of dengue fever or simple Read More »

November 23, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Agents & Toxins, International, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
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Calling for a GMO-Free Continent

(AllAfrica) South African smallholder farmer Motlasi Musi is not happy with the African Centre for Biosafety’s call for his country and Africa to ban the cultivation, import and export of all genetically modified maize. “I eat genetically modified maize, which I have been growing on my farm for more than seven years, and I am Read More »