See what we’re reading this week at Global Biodefense on topics including the gain-of-function research debate, good news on Malaria drug for treating Ebola, and preparedness for radiological emergencies.
BIODEFENSE POLICY & PRACTICES
- U.S. needs to exercise leadership at the Biological Weapons Convention (RAND)
- Project BioShield annual report Jan-Dec 2014 (MedicalCountermeasures.gov)
- A dead disease still lives in lab freezers. What else does? (NatGeo)
- Q&A with NCEZID director Beth Bell on infectious disease threats (Nation’s Health)
- NSABB launches new phase of GOF research debate (CIDRAP)
- Great expectations—ethics, avian flu and the value of progress (Medical Ethics)
- Debate over bird flu research moratorium flares up again (NPR)
- Guidance and other information of interest to MCM stakeholders (FDA)
- Most states unprepared to handle disease outbreak (UPI)
- Sharing of research data should be the norm in public health emergencies (MNT)
- U.S. may lack resources to treat kids in disasters (Reuters)
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
- Use of chemical weapons continues in Syria (Jane’s 360)
- Withdrawal of decontamination emergency vehicles ‘risks security’ (BBC)
- Portable NIST kit can recover traces of chemical evidence (NIST)
- Congress moves on chemical safety reform (C&EN)
SELECT AGENTS
- Ebola treatment using plasma from survivors is not effective, study says (NY Times)
- Saving lives: Civil-military response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak (Univ of Sydney) .pdf
- Malaria drug could be useful treatment against Ebola, study finds (STAT)
- Ebola can’t escape Israeli mobile isolation units (Jewish Business News)
INFECTIOUS DISEASE COUNTERMEASURES
- Last-ditch drug resistance: China and Europe respond (NatGeo)
- Think your job is hard? Try squirting a vaccine up a camel’s nose (STAT)
- How to identify a bad vaccine reaction before it happens (Science)
- Health Matters – tackling antimicrobial resistance (Gov.UK)
OUTBREAK NEWS & THREAT SURVEILLANCE
- Zika: a rare benign virus suddenly turns nasty, and heads for the US (The Conversation)
- MERS joins the more-environmental-than-you-may-think club (Reflections on IPC)
- Zika virus in amniotic fluid…but is that enough? (Virology Down Under)
- U.S. refocuses on testing to fight deadly hog virus (Reuters)
- Outbreak! What’s the state of your state? (HSDL)
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
- Molecular fingerprint predicts flu shot response (The Scientist)
- Meet a globe-trotting chemist and builder of “smart molecules” (Biomedical Beat)
- Viral soldiers – phage therapy to combat bacterial infections (The Scientist)
- Researchers rein in slice-happy gene editor, CRISPR (Science)
INDUSTRY NEWS
- How biotech went from a risky investment to a booming business (STAT)
- Cepheid announces distribution agreement with Henry Schein (Cepheid)
- A challenge to the first CRISPR patent just got teeth (The Scientist)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific to acquire Affymetrix (Global Biodefense)
- New company seeks to leverage cellular cleanup crew to halt disease (STAT)
RADIOLOGICAL & NUCLEAR THREATS
- Preparedness and response for a nuclear or radiological emergency (IAEA)
- New study examines factors contributing to CBRN pursuit (START)
- Air Force radiation sniffer plane deployed after North Korea’s nuclear test (WaPo)
