EurelAlert July 15, 2019 Researchers in Belgium successfully applied Nanobodies® – small antibody fragments – to control the assembly of the bacterial armor and study its structure. The Nanobodies were not only effective in preventing the armor from forming, but also proved highly efficient in breaking down existing S-layers. When applied to live bacteria, breaking down the armor slowed bacterial growth and led to drastic changes in the surface of the bacterial cell. Nanobodies were tested as a treatment in mice infected with B. anthracis. All treated mice recovered from lethal anthrax within days…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Tag Archives: Biological weapons
Defenses Against the Biggest Risk We Face
Next Big Future December 9, 2018 One [Open Access] study found the worldwide spread of a serious infectious disease could result in pandemic-related deaths of 700,000 and annual economic losses of $500 billion. The World Health Organization had a scientific report that modeled the impact of a 1918 style flu pandemic in 2018. They estimated that there would still be 20 to 33 million deaths. This took into account modern vaccination, drugs and public health procedures…read more.
The Pentagon is studying an insect army to defend crops. Critics fear a bioweapon.
Washington Post October 4, 2018 The program funded by DARPA has a warm and fuzzy name: “Insect Allies.” The bugs would carry genetically engineered viruses that could be deployed rapidly if critical crops such as corn or wheat became vulnerable to a drought, a natural blight or a sudden attack by a biological weapon. The concept envisions the viruses making genetic modifications that protect the plants immediately, during a single growing season. A team of skeptical scientists and legal scholars published an article in the journal Science arguing that the Insect Allies program opens a “Pandora’s box” and involves technology […]
How prepared is the world for the next epidemic? This tool shows most countries are not.
Washington Post June 21, 2018 AA team of researchers at CDC has developed a tool that spotlights gaps in preparedness, and actions that countries and organizations can take to close them. The new website, PreventEpidemics.org gives an individual score to each country and uses color codes to rank the world by five levels of preparedness. More than 60 percent of countries, representing nearly 5 billion people, have not volunteered to conduct these epidemic preparedness evaluations, including most of Europe, Russia, China, India and virtually all South America…read more.