Bioterrorism

Boston biolab: Panel urges review of possible lab threats
As community opposition to the almost-complete Boston University biolab continues, a panel of experts says neighborhood’s concerns — and safety — should not be excluded from consideration of final approval for lab opening
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CDC biolab not ready after 2 1/2 years
A new CDC biosafety lab was supposed to open in the fall of 2005; it is still not open, and legislators begin to wonder why; they note that at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, it took less than seven months for its BSL-4 lab to become operational after construction was finished
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A dead end for free trade? I
Tightening border security along the U.S.-Canada border is hampering trade, experts say; delays owing to security checks have cascading effects, as supplies and raw materials are late arriving at manufacturing plants
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Is the threat of bioterrorism exaggerated?
William Clark, professor and chair emeritus of immunology at UCLA, says it is
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Market for molecular diagnostic technologies to grow
The last few years have seen major strides forward in molecular diagnostic technologies; new report asses size of markets and opportunities in it
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Detailed studies of U.S. disaster preparedness offer recommendations
Critical care panel tackles disaster preparation, surge capacity, and health care rationing; some recommendations require largely greater budgets; other pose profound ethical and moral questions
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Past patients to provide fast flu vaccine to new patients
Currently it takes at least six months to produce a flu vaccine after a new strain appears; researchers find that a faster way would be to treat people with antibodies produced by earlier patients
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Debate over private biolabs in Seattle
Biolabs bring high-paying jobs to a community and contracts from government and the pharmaceutical industry; there is always a danger, though: an accident may occur and a deadly pathogen may be released into the environment to wreak havoc and death; in Seattle they debate the wisdom of locating biolabs in residential communities s
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New ultrasensitive assay detects most poisonous substance known
One gram of botulinum toxin could kill more than one million people — little wonder, then, that CDC identifies botulinum neurotoxin as one of six “maximum threat” bioterrorism agents; researchers have now developed a new ultrasensitive assay to detect botulinum neurotoxin
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EU worries about threat posed by drug-resistant "super bugs"
Four million people in the 27 EU member states have health-care infections every year — infections attributable to drug-resistant bugs; of these, 35,000 die; health officials plan EU-wide campaign
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Man sickened in Las Vegas ricin incident arrested
The man who was hospitalized on 14 February for breathing difficulties — and slipped into a coma until 14 March — is now charged with attempted bioterrorism; police find the following in his room: An “Anarchist’s Cookbook,” a collection of instructions on poisons and other dangerous recipes, including instructions on the preparation of ricin, two semiautomatic pistols, a rifle, and a pistol with a silencer
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New airborne pathogen detector
An Austrian company joins forces with a German specialist to develop autonomous lab-on-a-chip based detection system for the European Defense Agency
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Palestinian terrorists planned to poison diners at Israel restaurant
Two Palestinians staying illegally in Israel and working in a restaurant in a Tel Aviv suburb, planned to use poison supplied by Hezbollah to kill restaurant patrons
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Government admits accidents at Plum Island biolab
The biolab on Plum Island, off the tip of Long Island, is the only lab allowed to do research on the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease; DHS officials admit that since 1978 here have been several accidental releases of the virus into cattle in holding pens
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UDTT's anthrax detection featured on Chinese TV
The Chinese Government has warned that terrorists pose the biggest risk to this summer’s Olympic Games; officials say they foiled two plots, one to bring down an airliner, and another to disrupt the summer games; they are also worried about bioterrorism
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