Global Biodefence January 4, 2023 Although the hot air decontamination process is within materials specifications for aircraft, extended hot air exposure may affect sensitive systems. Germination occurs when a bacterial spore develops into a growing, vegetative bacterial cell. While spores are resistant to environmental extremes such as heat, most vegetative bacterial cells are susceptible to higher temperatures, so causing germination and raising ambient temperature is one way kill bacterial spores. Researchers at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWC-DD) field tested the bacterial spore germination process by spreading over 100 million human-safe bacterial surrogate for Bacillus anthracis bacterial spores […]
Tag Archives: Bioterrorism
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 […]
Machines whisper our secrets
UC Riverside News February 22, 2019 Any active machine emits a trace of some form: physical residue, electromagnetic radiation, acoustic noise, etc. A team of researchers in the US (UC Irvine, UC Riverside) set microphones similar to those in a smartphone in several spots near a DNA synthesizer. After filtering out background noise and running several adjustments to the recorded sound, the researchers found the differences were too subtle for humans to notice. But through a careful feature engineering and bespoke machine-learning algorithm they were able to pinpoint those differences. The researchers could easily distinguish each time the machine produced […]
How machine learning could keep dangerous DNA out of terrorists’ hands
Nature News January 31, 2019 The US government is backing efforts that use machine learning to detect whether a DNA sequence encodes part of a dangerous pathogen. Researchers are beginning to make progress towards designing artificial-intelligence-based screening tools, and several groups are presenting early results at the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Biothreats meeting in Arlington, Virginia, on 31 January. In 2016, IARPA launched an initiative to design better algorithms for spotting potentially threatening sequences. Information about the basic biology of organisms — such as a universal DNA sequence that allows toxins or viruses to stick to cells could help […]
The US Is Woefully Underprepared For The Next Pandemic
Science Alert August 20, 2018 Pandemic policy scholars believe that it is essential to prepare the country and the world for the next pandemic. It is not a matter of if, but when, the next disease will sweep the world with deadly and costly consequences. Topic areas that national leaders must address to create better preparedness and response capabilities include – overuse and misuse of antibiotics; ensuring continuity of supply chains; the absence of high-level leadership. If the United States chooses to elevate the issue of pandemic preparedness and biosecurity as a national security priority, we could be prepared Outbreaks […]