Recent News

By Region: North America

US biosecurity board revises stance on mutant-flu studies

(Nature.com) Today, after a two-day meeting, the board decided to revise its earlier decision. The NSABB unanimously recommended full publication of one of the two disputed papers, a manuscript submitted to Nature by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and his colleagues. “We at Nature are delighted,” said editor-in-chief Philip Campbell. “Subject to Read More »

April 2, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, International, Public Health, and Research
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NSABB reverses recommendation on H5N1 studies

(CIDRAP News) – A federal advisory board today reversed its stance on publishing two controversial H5N1 transmission papers today, recommending that both studies be published in full. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) met yesterday and today to discuss revised versions of the studies by two groups, one from the University of Wisconsin, Read More »

April 2, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Billions to Stem an Unlikely Bioterror Attack

(The Fiscal Times) Tens of billions of dollars have been poured into basic science and applied research to develop vaccines and drugs to combat diseases like anthrax, smallpox (a disease that no longer occurs naturally on earth), botulism and plague.

March 30, 2012
| Filed under North America, Bioterrorism, Countermeasures, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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Policy On High-Risk Biological Research Tightened

(NPR – Audio) The Obama administration has announced a new policy to handle the risks posed by legitimate biological research that could, in the wrong hands, threaten the public. The move comes in response to a huge debate over recent experiments on bird flu virus that got funding from the National Institutes of Health. Critics Read More »

March 30, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Bioterrorism, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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A Decade in Biosecurity

(Biosecurity and Bioterrorism) Special feature of the journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism now available. Open access to the articles in this feature is available until April 12, 2012. These peer-reviewed articles, authored by leaders in the field, describe the current state of affairs in biosecurity policy and practice, identify remaining challenges, and articulate priorities for the Read More »