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Imported food testing a growing business
The growing wave of imports, and the realization that other countries have different product health and safety standards and different ways to enforce such standards, give boost to U.S. food- and product-inspection industry
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Federal agency says proposed BU biolab no threat
Many in Boston are uneasy about BU’s plan to build a biolab in the city’s South End neighborhood; a federal agency’s study says lab will pose no risk
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National biolab may remain on Plum Island
The national biolab on Plum Island, New York, was built in 1954, and it showing its age; DHS has been looking for a new location for a new $450 million biolab, and five locations made the finalist list; now DHS says the lab may well remain on Plum Island
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Next generation bio aerosol systems receives boost
Specialist in bio-aerosol sensor capable of detecting anthrax, tularemia, and smallpox receives funding from DHS for second phase development
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Bird-flu infection results in Germany's biggest bird cull ever
More than 160,000 geese culled in Germany after the deadly H5N1 bird-flu virus is found in a poultry farm near the city of Erlangen
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Poisonous puffer fish sold as salmon kill 15 in Thailand
California-based company imports puffer fish from China, mislabel them as “monkfish,” and sell them to Illinois restaurants; several people beome ill
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EU lifts ban on British meat, dairy exports
EU imposed ban three weeks ago after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in three U.K. farms; ban cost U.K. farmers about £10 million a week in lost sales
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WHO, China to discuss Chinese food safety practices
Faced with an embarassing wave of product and food-stuff recalls owing to inadequate safety regulations, and a growing number of contract cancellations by major U.S. and European importers, China arranges to discuss issue with UN health agency
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ImmuneRegen offers Homspera as anthrax vaccine
The administration erred in entrusting anthrax vaccine development to VaxGen; Arizona-based ImmuneRegen BioSciences believes it has a better solution
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World Health Organization diseases spread faster around world
U.N. health agency says one or more new diseases have been identified every year since the 1970s —a rate it says is “unprecedented”
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Video game offers clues to human behavior during pandemics
In 2005 the creators of World of Warcraft video game introduced a virulent, contagious disease into the game as a challenge to players; subsequent players’ behavior tells us much about human behavior during real pandemics
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Fruit bats found to be the source of Marburg virus
As is the case with Ebola, the Marburg virus casues deadly hemorrhagic fever; scientists now find that common fruit bats carry the virus
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Nasally administered anthrax vaccine shows promise
University of Michigan scientists treat the inside of test animals’ noses with a “nanoemulsion,” triggering strong immune response
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U.K. enlists Glaxo, Baxter in bird flu vaccine effort
U.K. awards the two companies a four-year, £155 million contracts; Glaxo, Europe’s biggest drugmaker, already has similar agreements with Switzerland, Iceland, and Denmark
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Flora, Mississippi, wants to be home to new national lab
Many were surprised to see Flora, Mississippi (population 1,546) among the five finalists for the new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility; many in the city were surprised as well, but they are planning to fight for the lab
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The long view
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.”
A Brief History of Federal Funding for Basic Science
Biomedical science in the United States is at a crossroads. For 75 years, the federal government has partnered with academic institutions, fueling discoveries that have transformed medicine and saved lives. Recent moves by the Trump administration — including funding cuts and proposed changes to how research support is allocated — now threaten this legacy.
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.