Recent News

By Region: North America

We need to fix the holey biosafety net

(New Scientist) PHYSICS lost its innocence on 16 July 1945, when researchers involved in the Manhattan Project witnessed the first detonation of an atomic bomb. Years later, Robert Oppenheimer recalled that he was haunted by a verse from the Hindu scripture, …</b

January 16, 2012
| Filed under North America, Biosafety, Biotechnology, and Policy & Initiatives
Share

The Risks of Dangerous Research

(Scientist) While debriefing Popov, Larsen learned that the Soviet Union had active programs to weaponize Legionnaire’s disease, Ebola, smallpox, and HIV. And now, with biotechnology continuing to advance, even a small, but determined terrorist group or an …

January 16, 2012
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, Europe, North America, Bioterrorism, and Research
Share

Don’t censor life-saving science

(Nature.com) As we prepared our results for publication, the US government convened the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB), which advises the community about research using agents that pose threats to national security or public health. …

January 16, 2012
| Filed under Europe, North America, Biosafety, Public Health, and Research
Share

Recommendations for Avian Flu Research Access Expected in Weeks

(Global Security Newswire) The United States intends “within the next couple of weeks” to issue advisories on releasing sensitive information from recent bird flu studies to relevant officials and scientists, the journal Nature on Wednesday quoted a key U.S. official as saying. The U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity last month urged scientific teams Read More »

January 13, 2012
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Research
Share

Chicago’s new bio-attack response facility

(Homeland Security NewsWire) Chicago is preparing itself for a biological attack with the recent unveiling of a new 40,000 square-foot, fourteen story state-of the-art medical decontamination facility. Last Friday the Robert R. McCormick Foundation Center for Advanced Emergency Response at the Rush University Medical Center opened its doors for the first time.