See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics like anthrax vaccines, virus-tracking software, drug-resistant influenza and more…
Craig Venter’s Bugs Might Save the World
In the menagerie of Craig Venter’s imagination, tiny bugs will save the world. They will be custom bugs, designer bugs — bugs that only Venter can create. He will mix them up in his private laboratory from bits and pieces of DNA, and then he will release them into the air and the water, into smokestacks and oil spills, hospitals and factories and your house. New York Times Magazine
Anthrax Vaccine – To the Victor, the Spoils
The anthrax vaccine was initially developed by the state of Michigan’s Biologic Products Institute (MBPI). In 1998, the MBPI plant was closed for “renovations” coincidentally following an FDA “notice of intent to revoke licenses”. MBPI was sold in 1998 to for-profit BioPort corporation, which became a subsidiary of Emergent BioSolutions. According to the Department of Defense’s anthrax vaccination website, Emergent is headed by Fuad El-Hibri and Admiral William Crowe, Jr., a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. El-Hibri was CEO of the British company Porton International, which had made a fortune selling anthrax vaccine to countries like Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. El-Hibri was not a U.S. citizen at the time and there was reluctance in some quarters to have the government’s sole anthrax vaccine supply controlled by foreign nationals. So Crowe was brought in as director in exchange for about 10% of the company’s stock. The Corporate Research Project details the bailouts to BioPort to keep the company, the sole manufacturer of anthrax vaccine, viable following considerable regulatory and financial problems. Scientific American
Muslim Leaders Enlisted to Help Stamp Out Polio
The last three countries where polio is still paralysing children — Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria — said on Thursday that they have enlisted Muslim women and religious leaders to allay fears of vaccination and wipe out the disease. Polio cases are at an all-time low worldwide, following its eradication in India last year, raising hopes but also fears about a threat of resurgence especially in sub-Saharan Africa unless remaining reservoirs of polio virus are stamped out. “The number one issue is security-compromised areas, insecure areas such as in the tribal areas which is still giving us several (polio) cases and is a big challenge for us.” Reuters
DARPA is Just as Worried About a Bioterror Attack as the Pentagon
The day after the Department of Defense’s number two man referred to bioterror as an inevitable threat against the United States civilian and military populations, DARPA put out a solicitation for a method to disarm certain kinds of bioweapons. Business Insider
Stockpile Vaccines: Bioterrorism is a Real Threat
According to the Bipartisan WMD Research Center’s Bio-Response Report Card anthrax and smallpox are the most urgent human biothreats, according to the federal government’s national planning scenarios. In the case of a biological attack, the U.S. is dependent on Project BioShield, created in 2004. This Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) program focuses on developing and creating stockpiles of vaccines and treatments to defend against biological threats, particularly smallpox and anthrax. Huffington Post
Computer-Designed Proteins Programmed to Disarm Variety of Flu Viruses
Computer-designed proteins are under construction to fight the flu. Researchers are demonstrating that proteins found in nature, but that do not normally bind the flu, can be engineered to act as broad-spectrum antiviral agents against a variety of flu virus strains, including H1N1 pandemic influenza. University of Washington
Building Molecular Cages to Fight Disease
UCLA biochemists have designed specialized proteins that assemble themselves to form tiny molecular cages hundreds of times smaller than a single cell. The creation of these miniature structures may be the first step toward developing new methods of drug delivery or even designing artificial vaccines. UCLA Newsroom
Consumer Groups Criticize Poultry Inspection Proposal
Three more leading consumer groups weighed in this week on the debate over a controversial plan to revamp poultry inspection by shifting greater responsibility to companies. The model reduces the number of inspectors from USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on duty and largely turns over physical inspections to company employees, while allowing plants to significantly speed up their production lines. Food Safety News
New Study Shows Why Swine Flu Virus Develops Drug Resistance
The antiviral drugs Relenza and Tamiflu, which target the neuraminidase (NA) enzyme, successfully treated the infection but widespread use of these drugs has led to a series of mutations in NA that reduce the drugs’ effectiveness. Clinical studies indicate that the double mutant of swine flu NA known as IRHY2 reduced the effectiveness of Relenza by 21 times and Tamiflu by 12,374 times – that is, to the point where it has become an ineffective treatment. To understand why the effectiveness of Relenza and Tamiflu is so seriously reduced by the occurrence of this mutation, the researchers performed long-timescale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using GPUs. University of Bristol