See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics like gene silencer proteins, the H5N1 data controversy, funding for the Food Safety Modernization Act, and more…
The World’s Deadliest Bioterrorist
Bird flu has killed more than 330 people since 2003. That may not sound many, but it amounts to 60% of the 570 known cases of the disease. The only reason the death toll is not higher is that those who succumbed caught the virus directly from a bird (usually a chicken). Fortunately for everyone else, it does not pass easily from person to person. But it might. That is the burden of research carried out last year by two teams of scientists, one in America and one in the Netherlands. They tweaked the bird-flu virus’s genes to produce a version which can travel through the air from ferret to ferret. And ferrets are, in this context, good proxies for people. The Economist
Scripps Researchers Find Structure of a Key Gene Silencer Protein
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the three-dimensional atomic structure of a human protein that is centrally involved in regulating the activities of cells. Knowing the precise structure of this protein paves the way for scientists to understand a process known as RNA-silencing and to harness it to treat diseases. Scripps
Luminex Expands Life Science and Biodefense Group
The additional investment in the Luminex Biodefense Group further accelerates the company’s biothreat detection applications in development. “There are many exciting opportunities where Luminex technology can make a significant impact,” said Amy Altman, Ph.D. and vice president of Luminex’s Biodefense group. “Unlike other biothreat detection systems, our technology has the ability to simultaneously detect multiple potential agents and process multiple samples with greater throughput. This unique feature provides significant power and speed in biothreat detection.” PR Newswire
Never Again? Obama’s Risky Plan for Preventing Global Atrocities
President Obama announced the creation of the Atrocities Prevention Board and an effort to develop government-wide strategies for finding ways to intervene before mass killings take place. The Presidential Study Directive (PSD-10) and the executive order on which these actions are based rightly note that the U.S. government has never had a comprehensive strategy for preventing mass atrocities despite having promised “never again” several times since World War II. The Atlantic
NIH Endorses Recommendation to Publish Flu Studies
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has endorsed the recommendations of its biosecurity advisory committee to publish the full versions of two studies describing lab-modified, mammalian-transmissible H5N1 flu viruses, NIH officials announced today. The step signals an end to formal US government opposition to full publication of the two papers authored by Yoshiro Kawaoka, DVM, of the University of Wisconsin and Ron Fouchier, PhD, of Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. But the Dutch government has been using export-control laws to stop Fouchier from submitting his revised manuscript to Science. Kawaoka’s study is expected to be published in Nature. CIDRAP
Senate Committee Seeks 22M Boost for FDA
Of the increase, $12.5 million is designated specifically for implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act. The Senate bill would give the Food Safety and Inspection Service $1.001 billion for FY 2013. “This includes an increase above the budget request for Federal inspection activities and the full funding requested in the budget for state and international inspection activities,” according to the committee. Food Safety News