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Hopkins students devise rotavirus vaccine on a dissolvable strip
Similar to Listerine PocketPaks, vaccine goes down easy for fussy children; unlike liquid vaccines, this one does not require refrigeration
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NASA tests space-bound rapid bacteria assay
Trips to Mars may expose astronauts and their equipment to dangerous bacteria and fungi
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Temple researchers smell success with biosensor project
Genetic engineering crosses a yeast with the olfactory chemical receptors of a rat
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Emory researchers control E. coli movement
By reprogramming the bacteria’s chemo-navigational system, researchers turn a nasty bug into a powerful pharmocological and disaster relief tool
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FDA considers testing regime for E. coli vaccines
Canada’s Bioniche Life Sciences has a running start in Canada, but questions remain about who will pay the bill
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FDA rejects notion of food oversight consolidation
David Acheson says no to the idea of creating a new agency or consolidating operations at USDA
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Missouri researcher develops advanced juice-testing technique
Rapid test for Alicyclobacillus should improve exports to Japan; DNA sequencing is coupled with mid-infrared spectroscopy
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Researchers use Google Earth to track bird flu
“Supermap” brings together known epidemiological research with an easy-to-use mapping system
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Florida researchers discover how anthrax shuts down immune system
A lethal toxin immobilizes the white blood cells by preventing actin assembly
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Llama blood used in ebola assay
Unique protein antibodies can withstand high temperatures, a major challenge for health officials in the Third World
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A test for our readers
A new smallpox vaccine awaits clinical trials, and 215 hardy Americans are needed; Uncle Sam needs you
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Sandia Labs announces new electrochemical sensor
Unlike current methods, this one tests multiple biomolecules simultaneously; “diazonium-based surface chemistry”
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Virginia prepares for Food Security Summit
Speakers will include experts on sustainability, food-borne microbes, food distribution, hunger policy, and government regulations
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Public health labs oppose field WMD testing
Without national performance standards and field validation, Association of Public Health Laboratories says the risks of false positives and false negatives are too high
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Chemical found to inhibit anthrax germination
Seven different chemicals do the trick, but only one works inside mammalian cells
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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.