Global Biodefense April 8, 2022 Under a five-year grant from NIAID researchers at Albany Medical College are working to develop a vaccine that could protect against plague. Bubonic plague is the most common naturally occurring form of the three main types of plague, which also include pneumonic plague and septicemic plague. In the U.S., plague is most common in rural areas of the southwest, particularly New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. It is treated with antibiotics. There is no vaccine currently available that provides long-term defense against it. While plague in humans is relatively rare, there strains that are resistant to […]
Tag Archives: Bioweapon
Rapid Identification of Ricin in Serum Samples Using LC–MS/MS
Global Biodefense January 23, 2021 Researchers in Israel have developed a sensitive, rapid, antibody-independent assay for the identification of ricin in body fluids using mass spectrometry. The assay involves lectin affinity capturing of ricin by easy-to-use commercial lactose–agarose beads, followed by tryptic digestion and selected marker identification using targeted Multiple Reaction Monitoring analysis. This enables ricin identification down to 5 ng/mL in serum samples in 2.5 hours. They demonstrated the technology in a clinical scenario where the toxin was identified in an abdominal fluid sample taken 72 h post self-injection of castor beans extraction. This method has the potential application […]