Recent News

By Region: North America

Policy: Adaptations of avian flu virus are a cause for concern

(Nature.com) Members of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity explain its recommendations on the communication of experimental work on H5N1 influenza. We are in the midst of a revolutionary period in the life sciences.

February 2, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
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U.S. Cuts Spending Allowances for Biological, Chemical Defense Programs

(Global Security Newswire) A recently enacted U.S. defense authorization bill reduces finances available for a number of biological and chemical defense initiatives in keeping with setbacks to some of the efforts, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News reported last week. The legislation lowers the funding allowance for the Defense Department’s Chemical and Biological Defense Program to Read More »

February 1, 2012
| Filed under North America, Countermeasures, and Policy & Initiatives
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NSABB: Studies show how H5N1 can jump natural barrier

(CIDRAP News) The core of a US biosecurity advisory board’s concern about two controversial, as-yet-unpublished studies on H5N1 viruses is that the studies have shown how to remove the apparent natural barrier that keeps the viruses from …<

February 1, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Policy & Initiatives, Public Health, and Research
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Lockheed Martin gets $66 million to help move USAMRIID

(WTOP) Construction of the 810,000-square-foot building began in August 2009 and cost an estimated $683 million, USAMRIID spokeswoman Caree Vander-Linden said Tuesday. It will include 17,000 square feet of biosafety Level 4 lab space — used to study biohazards including Ebola — and 34,000 square feet of biosafety Level 3 space, where researchers can work Read More »

February 1, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, and Research
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Flu Work Akin to Nuclear-Bomb Experiments, Board Says

(Global Security Newswire) Experts who made an unprecedented recommendation that bird-flu researchers hold back some details of their work justified the controversial decision on Tuesday, saying that the experiments were akin to the 1940s work on nuclear weapons or the first attempts at genetic engineering in the 1970s.