CTC at West Point APRIL 2022, VOLUME 15, ISSUE 4 According to a team of researchers in the US (Boston College, US Military Academy, West Point, Brooke Army Medical Center) scientists are employing gene editing tools to cure genetic diseases, reduce the effects of climate change, and generate sustainable food sources. These same tools, however, can be used to modify pathogens to develop and deploy novel biological weapons. The nature of these tools and our understanding of specific viral genomes makes this process tunable. Components of a disease such as transmissibility, lethality, and the infectious window can potentially be modified […]
Tag Archives: Biological agents
Gene Editors Could Find New Use as Rapid Detectors of Pathogenic Threats
DARPA News November 15, 2019 The overarching goal of Detect It with Gene Editing Technologies (DIGET) is to provide comprehensive, specific, and trusted information about health threats to medical decision-makers within minutes, even in far-flung regions of the globe, to prevent the spread of disease, enable timely deployment of countermeasures, and improve the standard of care after diagnosis. The DIGET vision incorporates two devices: a handheld, disposable point-of-need device that screens samples for at least 10 pathogens or host biomarkers at once, combined with a massively multiplexed detection platform capable of screening clinical and environmental samples for more than 1,000 […]
Japan Imports Ebola And Other Deadly Pathogens in The Lead-Up to Tokyo Olympics
Science Alert October 17, 2019 Strains of the infectious virus along with four other dangerous pathogens were brought into the country last month by the Japanese government, so that scientists can study them and research possible countermeasures in the event of an outbreak sparked by the Tokyo 2020 tourist influx. Japan’s ability to study the most dangerous pathogens has lagged behind that of other advanced nations. There is one facility in the country operating at BSL 4 level. Both the United States and Europe have more than a dozen BSL-4 labs in operation or under construction, and China is building […]
Biological Threat Reduction: Design and Build Effluent Treatment System at Kenya’s FMD Vaccine Facility
Global Biodefense June 18, 2019 The Kenya Veterinary Vaccine Production Institute/National Veterinary Quality Control Lab (KEVEVAPI/NVQCL) is the national foot and mouth disease vaccine producer and a quality control laboratory in Kenya. Pathogen containment capacity at the lab is an important milestone to reduce the risk of widespread foot and mouth disease outbreaks. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP) is seeking eligible performers to design and install a new Effluent Treatment System…read more. Solicitation
Developing biosecurity tool to detect genetically engineered organisms in the wild
Science Daily May 21, 2019 A team of researchers in the US (Raytheon, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University, UC San Francisco, industry) is working on FELIX https://www.iarpa.gov/index.php/research-programs/felix (Finding Engineering-Linked Indicators) sponsored by IARPA. The program aims to develop a suite of tools for the agnostic detection of engineered biological organisms, ranging from viruses, bacteria, insects, animals and plants that are either purposefully or accidentally developed and/or released with the potential to cause harm. Ideally, the tools will expand the quality and amount of information available to distinguish engineered organisms from natural organisms, i.e., natural variation from intentional […]