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Biological Weapons
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Militant Claims Work on Anthrax Bomb in Afghanistan
Tuesday, March 16, 2010A suspected Taliban operative in Afghanistan claimed recently that the group was working on a bomb that would disperse anthrax, the London Daily Express reported Sunday (see GSN, Jan. 26). ...
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Biothreat Warning System Eyed For Possible Revamp
Friday, March 12, 2010WASHINGTON -- The Homeland Security Department is refining the strategy and approach of a troubled effort intended to consolidate data from federal biological surveillance systems and give the nation an ...
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Thefts Thwarted at Russian Disease Laboratory
Thursday, March 11, 2010Military personnel apprehended workers at a virology laboratory in southern Russia for allegedly attempting to steal a camera and notebook containing guarded information, Interfax reported yesterday (see ...
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British Man Pleads Guilty to Ricin Plot
Tuesday, March 9, 2010A 41-year-old British truck driver pleaded guilty yesterday to charges including production of the biological agent ricin and preparing for acts of terrorism, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, June 8, ...
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Weaknesses Found in Safety Assessment of Planned Biodefense Lab
Friday, March 5, 2010The U.S. Army should fine-tune its procedures for determining safety risks in its projects following slip-ups in plans for the new site of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at ...
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Funding Awarded to Develop Botulism Treatment
Friday, March 5, 2010The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency has awarded as much as $1.4 million for research aimed at combating the toxin that causes botulism, identified as a biological weapons threat, the Brookhaven National ...
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Homeland Security Seeks Better Biological Agent Sensor
Wednesday, March 3, 2010The U.S. Homeland Security Department is pursuing an improved biological agent sensor that would be deployed in major U.S. cities under the Biowatch program, Security Management reported Monday (see GSN, Oct. ...
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Scientists Make Progress on New Botulism Treatment
Monday, March 1, 2010Scientists at two U.S. universities have made progress in the search for a countermeasure for the toxin that causes botulism, which has been identified as a major biological weapons threat, Tufts University ...
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House Demands Further Probe of Anthrax Mailings
Friday, Feb. 26, 2010The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation yesterday that would require continued investigation of the 2001 anthrax letter mailings, despite the Justice Department's decision last week to formally ...
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Former HHS Official Backs Home Kits for Biodefense
Friday, Feb. 26, 2010As the United States considers the best strategy for distributing medical countermeasures for use in the event of a bioterrorism incident, the government should look at providing citizens with their own "home ...
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U.S. Agencies Must Step Up to Prevent Bioterrorism, Expert Says
Friday, Feb. 26, 2010 WASHINGTON -- The U.S. public health and national security sectors have not yet developed an effective strategy for preventing terrorists from acquiring potentially lethal materials used to produce everyday pharmaceutical products, according to one issue expert (see GSN, Jan. 25). Military, diplomatic and associated security agencies have driven the effort to prevent proliferation of biological weapons, Brian Finlay, a senior associate at the Henry L. Stimson Center, said in a new report. However, those organizations traditionally employ a "guards, guns and gates" strategy that is appropriate for safeguarding government-controlled nuclear materials but less likely to succeed within the rapidly expanding, private-sector biotechnology field, he said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department and its component agencies have been reluctant to make national security a part of their mandate, Finlay argued. -
Missouri Scientists Prepare Biological Agent Sensors
Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010Researchers in Missouri, with financial support from the U.S. Army, are working to develop sensors with the ability to detect biological weapons agents, OzarksFirst.com reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 6, ...
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Doubts Remain Over Suspected Anthrax Mailer's Guilt
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010Even with the closing of the U.S. Justice Department's investigation of the 2001 anthrax mailing, some scientists who worked with former Army microbiologist and sole suspect Bruce Ivins contend that the ...
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Interpol Conducts Bioterrorism Defense Training
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010Interpol last week provided bioterrorism defense training for 38 officials from more than a dozen nations, who are expected to share the lessons learned in the five-day course in their home countries ...
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Firm Receives up to $78M More for Anthrax Vaccine Research
Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010A Maryland biotechnology firm announced yesterday that it could receive as much as $78.4 million more in U.S. Health and Human Services Department funding for its work on a next-generation anthrax vaccine ...