• Terrorism Rather Than Pandemics More Concerning for Those with Authoritarian Views, Analysis Shows

    People with authoritarian political views are more likely to be concerned about terrorism and border control than a future new health pandemic, new research shows.

  • U.S. House Approves Federal Funding Ban on GoF Research

    The House of Representatives approved HR 5894, which includes a measure banning federal funding for studies that include gain-of-function research. Though the bill in question still requires Senate approval to have a chance to take effect, this move will likely be worrying to many in the scientific community.

  • The Secret Life of Brain Worms

    Nematodes play an important role in our natural environment, including enhancing the quality of soil. But the discovery of a worm in a person’s brain was a surprise, even to our most experienced parasitologist.

  • Report details Nazi Medical Crimes

    The Holocaust and other mass murders under the Nazi regime would hardly have been conceivable without the involvement of medical professionals. This has once again been highlighted by a commission of twenty international researchers who published a comprehensive report on Nazi medical crimes.

  • Striving for a More Secure World

    PNNL experts work with international partners to tackle cross-border biological and chemical threats. PNNL’s border security focus can be traced to the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. U.S. policy makers became concerned about the security of nuclear material in the newly independent states of the former U.S.S.R.

  • Norway's Seed Vault Protecting Africa's Food Supply

    African scientists have preserved precious seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, deep in Norway’s Arctic permafrost. The vault preserves food for disaster scenarios.

  • Arrest Made in Central California Bio-Lab Investigation

    Jia Bei Zhu, a citizen of China, was arrested earlier this week in California on a criminal complaint for manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices. Zhu and others manufactured, imported, sold, and distributed hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 test kits, in addition to test kits for HIV, pregnancy, clinical urinalysis, and other conditions in the United States and China.

  • Floods Kill Long After the Water Has Gone

    People impacted by a flooding event are at significantly increased risk of dying – including heart and lung problems – in a crucial window between three and six weeks after the event, even after the flooding has dissipated.

  • Hurricane Ian Stirred Up Flesh-Eating Bacteria in Florida

    Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida as a Category 4 storm in September last year, killing 149 people — the most deaths attributable to a single hurricane in the state in nearly a century. But the official death count didn’t include one of the most gruesome ways people died as a result of the storm: The state saw its highest number of vibriosis cases in more than 30 years.

  • Experts Warn of Risk of Civil Unrest in U.K. Due to Food Shortages

    Food shortages—especially a shortage of popular carbohydrates such as wheat, bread, pasta, and cereal — caused by extreme weather could lead to civil unrest in the U.K., according to a new study, which has surveyed some of the country’s leading food experts.

  • Flesh-Eating and Illness-Causing Bacteria in Florida’s Coastal Waters Following Hurricane Ian

    When Hurricane Ian struck southwest Florida in September 2022, it unleashed a variety of Vibrio bacteria that can cause illness and death in humans. Experts say that thepathogenic Vibrio bacteria are on the rise due to climate change, and it’s a ‘serious concern.’

  • Securing the Food Pipeline from Cyberattacks

    Sensors detecting the amount of food that herds of cattle are eating. Machines taking thousands of photos of fruit per second to detect their defects and sort them by quality. Robots packing fruit and vegetables into bags and boxes for purchase at grocery stores: Researchers are protecting the food and agriculture sector.

  • Climate Intervention Technologies May Create Winners and Losers in World Food Supply

    A technology being studied to curb climate change – one that could be put in place in one or two decades if work on the technology began now – would affect food productivity in parts of planet Earth in dramatically different ways, benefiting some areas, and adversely affecting others.

  • $9.5 Million to Enhance Cybersecurity in Health Care

    “Health care systems are highly vulnerable to ransomware attacks, which can cause catastrophic impacts to patient care and pose an existential threat to smaller health systems,” said an expert. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have been awarded $9.5 million for research that aims to protect the United States health care system against hostile cyber threats.

  • Preparing for the Next Pandemic: Improved Method for Tackling Bird Flu

    Concerning reports about avian flu outbreaks at poultry facilities across the country and abroad highlight the increasingly urgent need for a safe and effective vaccine that could thwart a possible spread of the virus from human to human. Researchers have developed an improved way to test potential vaccines against bird flu.