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Kit cuts pathogen detection time down to hours
Scottish scientists develop food contamination kit which will cut detection times for food pathogens such as Campylobacter, Listeria, and Salmonella from six days to five hours
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Meat treatment procedure approved even as scientists raised questions
Meat industry officials complain that they lose $1 billion in sales every year from having to discard or discount meat which is still edible but does not look red and appetizing; their solution: Treat meat with carbon monoxide gas to keep older cuts of meat looking red and fresh; critics question procedure’s safety
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Arizona biologist dies of plague contracted from mountain lion
Biologist contracted disease from a mountain lion he was treating at an Arizona national park; about 13 people in the U.S. die every year of the plague, which may be naturally contracted
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U.K. says avian flu strain in Suffolk and Norfolk highly pathogenic
Government confirms the presence of highly pathogenic H5N1 strain in south-east U.K.; protection zone imposed, full epidemiological investigation continues
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Desalinated water poses problem for agriculture
Nearly half of humanity is suffering insufficient access to potable water, and water scarcity for agriculture is regarded as a global crisis; between 1994 and 2004 world desalination capacity increased from 17.3 to 35.6 million m³/day; trouble is, desalinated water does not contain nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, and sulfate which are essential to plant life
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Purdue's veterinary homeland security program
Purdue University’s program in veterinary homeland security receives national certification as a curriculum for response personnel in the event of a major animal health emergency
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Contamination by biotech rice could cost U.S. industry $1.2 billion
Unapproved strain of genetically modified rice, not approved for human consumption, found its way into the U.S. food supply last year; recalls and import bans cause U.S. rice growers, harvesters, processors, millers, and retailers losses which could reach $1.2 billion
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Bush approves plan to tighten U.S. food safety rules
The administration is seeking new legal authority for the FDA, including the power to issue mandatory recalls; plan also calls for fines of up to $10 million for companies that flout rules, and for deployment of more U.S. government inspectors overseas
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FDA works on creating ID system for medical devices, supplies
A boost to RFID technology: FDA is working on a system to track and identify all medical devices and supplies; when finalized, the new requirements would drive adoption of RFID in the medical supply chain and in reporting adverse events
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Web site offers unsafe-product alerts
Consumer Union launches a new Web site offering news on the latest recalls from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
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Ensuring imports' safety offers lucrative business opportunities
Mounting worries about hazardous substances in food, toys, and other consumer goods is creating opportunities for makers of devices which detect such dangers; Bay State businesses seize opportunities
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Seattle biotech start-ups have difficult time raising VC funds
The greater Seattle area may have been the birth place of several dot.coms — Microsoft comes to mind — but present-day biotech start-ups say they find raising funds from VCs exceedingly difficult
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Critics see problems in EU plan to shift to biofuels
The EU plans to require that a growing percentage of European cars shift to biofuels to ease pressure on the environment; critics charge plan may harm farmers in developing countries
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BioFactura develops diagnostic kit for viral hemorrhagic fever infections
BioFactura and its partners conduct clinical tests in West Africa of test kits for viral hemorrhagic fever diagnosis; kits will be useful diagnostic tools in the event of bioterror attacks — but also for viral hemorrhagic fever infections common in Africa
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Mail-order bioterror nears
The risks of bioterrorism are real, and mail-order bioterror is around the corner; yes, the authorities need to keep a close eye on biotechnology research, but “a robust biotech research sector that is not hobbled by excessive regulation is our best defense against bioterrorism”
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The long view
What We’ve Learned from Survivors of the Atomic Bombs
Q&A with Dr. Preetha Rajaraman, New Vice Chair for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
Combatting the Measles Threat Means Examining the Reasons for Declining Vaccination Rates
Measles was supposedly eradicated in Canada more than a quarter century ago. But today, measles is surging. The cause of this resurgence is declining vaccination rates.
Social Networks Are Not Effective at Mobilizing Vaccination Uptake
The persuasive power of social networks is immense, but not limitless. Vaccine preferences, based on the COVID experience in the United States, proved quite insensitive to persuasion, even through friendship networks.
Vaccine Integrity Project Says New FDA Rules on COVID-19 Vaccines Show Lack of Consensus, Clarity
Sidestepping both the FDA’s own Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), two Trump-appointed FDA leaders penned an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine to announce new, more restrictive, COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. Critics say that not seeking broad input into the new policy, which would help FDA to understand its implications, feasibility, and the potential for unintended consequences, amounts to policy by proclamation.
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
“Tulsi Gabbard as US Intelligence Chief Would Undermine Efforts Against the Spread of Chemical and Biological Weapons”: Expert
The Senate, along party lines, last week confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National intelligence. One expert on biological and chemical weapons says that Gabbard’s “longstanding history of parroting Russian propaganda talking points, unfounded claims about Syria’s use of chemical weapons, and conspiracy theories all in efforts to undermine the quality of the community she now leads” make her confirmation a “national security malpractice.”