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Sanctioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the laboratory will be designed as per the stringent Biosafety level 3 norms of the international body. The laboratory will be equipped to fight even the deadliest of viral attacks, like that of Hantavirus (infectious respiratory disease), Ebola virus and most importantly the human transmission of avian influenza. (Daily News & Analysis)
Q&A: Siti Fadilah Supari Dec 20, 2007
We have the necessary facilities, such as biosafety level-3 secure labs and good Indonesian scientists. That would also put an end to disputes over virus sharing. (Nature News Service)
Ruling may stall opening of biolab Dec 14, 2007
Yesterday's decision does not halt construction of the facility, already 70 percent complete, but does call into question when or whether BU will receive the permits necessary to open the centerpiece of the building: a Biosafety Level-4 lab where scientists will be able to work with the world's deadliest germs, including Ebola, plague, and anthrax ... In a statement, the university said: "The biosafety lab and the research it conducts will save and not endanger lives. We are confident that the... (Boston Globe)
Unair develops bird flu center Dec 9, 2007
Inaugurated on Nov. 26, the new lab is named The Indonesia-Japan Collaborative Research Center for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Disease (CRC-ERID) and conducts Biosafety Level 3 (BSL 3) research. The research center is located within Unair's Tropical Disease Center. (Jakarta Post, Indonesia -- Features)
UW president commits to new containment lab Dec 6, 2007
University of Wyoming President Tom Buchanan pledged to Wyoming livestock producers that sooner or later, he ll get a new biosafety lab at the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie ... In a separate interview, Buchanan said two studies have looked at what it would cost to have a Level III biosafety containment lab ... M3A Biosafety Level III facility is a federal designation for a laboratory designed to be highly secure. (Casper Star-Tribune, WY)
Unease over the BU biolab Dec 4, 2007
IN LIGHT of the National Research Council's report on Boston University's proposed biosafety lab, I am shocked that Mayor Menino's response was that the facility is "too important not to go forward" ( Page A1, Nov. 30). With both the council and the director of the National Institutes of Health raising serious concerns about the analysis of the lab, I'm embarrassed by the mayor's statement, particularly because he should have an even higher duty to city residents. (Boston Globe -- Editorial)
New ebola found Dec 1, 2007
Samples arrived at CDC's Biosafety Level 4 labs in Atlanta on Monday. By Tuesday, Ksiazek said, it was apparent this was not a typical Ebola virus. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
US review of BU biolab inadequate, panel finds Nov 30, 2007
The lab building, scheduled to open in about a year on BU's medical school campus, has as its centerpiece a Biosafety Level-4 facility, designed to allow scientists to work with the world's deadliest germs, including Ebola, plague, and Marburg virus. The project, which is being underwritten by the federal government, includes lower-security labs as well, but it is the Level-4 lab that has raised neighbors' fears. (Boston Globe)
LMN microbiology staff honored Nov 29, 2007
The WLRN developed a series of four laboratory examination modules (biosafety, emergency laboratory response, packaging and shipping samples, and laboratory diagnostics for bioterrorism) to document laboratory training achievements in emergency preparedness. To qualify for the award, at least two members of laboratory staff must successfully complete each module. (Chetek Alert, WI)
Keeping pathogens in the box is goal of BL3 facility Nov 28, 2007
Leaders of soybean industry attend the Open House held for the new Biosafety Level 3 Plant Pathology Research Facility ... A ribbon-cutting ceremony occurred for the new Biosafety Level 3 Plant Pathology Research Facility ... Abbreviated as BL3, the biosafety facility will house research on economically important plant diseases caused by pathogens not yet established in Minnesota. (Sioux Falls Tri-State Neighbor, SD)
EU is warned over resisting genetically modified products Nov 27, 2007
"The EU needs to stand firm and defend its biosafety rules," she said. . (International Herald Tribune)
Arizona Biomedical Research Commission Nov 27, 2007
Keim, also a professor of biology and the Cowden Endowed Chair in Microbiology at Northern Arizona University, is a nationally recognized biosafety expert, and has been working to develop tools to identify biodefense diseases. On Nov. 16, TGen North announced it teamed with NAU to receive a $4. (Phoenix Business Journal, AZ)
Tips from the Journals of the American Society for Microbiology Nov 9, 2007
The possibility of a pandemic outbreak emphasizes the need for an effective vaccine, however development has been impeded by factors such as poor immunogenicity, biosafety concerns, and risk of genetic exchange with circulating influenza virus strains. In the study researchers developed a live vaccine incorporating the avian Newcastle disease virus (NDV), which expresses a common gene found in the H5N1 avian influenza virus, and tested it in African monkeys. (EurekAlert!)
Gubler to lead program in Singapore Nov 4, 2007
One will be used to hire a replacement for him as chairman of the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology and director of the Pacific Regional Biosafety Laboratory, he said. He will remain institute director for an indefinite period, he said. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
Trust Of Locals Essential To Contain Marburg And Ebola Outbreaks Nov 1, 2007
He comments: 'The experience in Uige clearly shows that biosafety and epidemiological efficacy alone are not sufficient to make an FHF intervention effective. Involving local authorities and respected influential individuals is an established principle of public health interventions in the community. (Science Daily)
To maintain national security, US policies should continue to promote open exchange of research Oct 19, 2007
LouAnn C. Burnett Assistant Director Environmental Health and Safety Department, and Biological Safety Officer Biosafety and Occupational Hygiene Program Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tenn ... Michael J. Imperiale Member National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity National Institutes of Health; and Professor Department of Microbiology and Immunology Medical School, and Chair Institutional Biosafety Committee University of Michigan Ann Arbor. (EurekAlert!)
BU biolab faces new scrutiny from Massachusetts Oct 14, 2007
The agency is paying the National Research Council $50,000 to conduct an analysis of the facility, known as a Biosafety Level-4 lab, where scientists will search for treatments and vaccines targeting microscopic killers such as Ebola, plague, and anthrax. A state judge ordered the Massachusetts environmental agency last year to conduct a further review of the project, a cornerstone in the Bush administration's campaign to prepare the nation for potential acts of bioterrorism. (Boston Globe)
Carlsbad biotech goes on a tear Oct 14, 2007
The company has also picked up money by doing work for the federal government in such areas as biosafety. On May 9, Isis and Bristol-Myers Squibb announced a deal under which Isis will get up to 168 million, in addition to 15 million up front and 9 million in research funding. (North County Times)
Biolabs must be closely watched Oct 11, 2007
In 2004 there were only five Level 4 biosafety labs where the most deadly agents are kept nationwide ... Today, that number has grown to nine, including a new one at the CDC. No one is sure exactly how many Level 3 biosafety laboratories, which handle potentially deadly germs and toxins, exists. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
Congress grills officials over biosafety boom Oct 11, 2007 Europe ponders restrictions on life sciences Oct 11, 2007 New Construction To Come To Plum Island Oct 11, 2007 UGA not releasing biosafety records Oct 7, 2007 Labs work with infectious diseases Oct 5, 2007 House to probe data on high-security labs Oct 5, 2007 Kraczkiewicz: Health board supports regulating bio-lab Oct 5, 2007 Lab lapses spark safety fears Oct 5, 2007 Accidents on rise as more US labs handle lethal germs Oct 3, 2007 'Jumping genes' could make for safer gene delivery system Sep 27, 2007 Ciommo, Glennon advance in council race Sep 26, 2007 Biosafety lapses prompt govt. review Sep 26, 2007 Biolab names new associate directors Sep 26, 2007 CDC Inspections Didnt Find Most Serious Problems At A&M Sep 26, 2007 Research institute awarded Homeland Security contract for viral research Sep 25, 2007 Security concern halted Wis. Ebola study Sep 21, 2007 Penn Veterinary Medicine report new strategy to create genetically modified animals Sep 21, 2007 News from around Wisconsin at 6:28 a.m. CDT Sep 20, 2007 University of Wisconsin stopped Ebola study after NIH warning Sep 20, 2007 Scientific vision Sep 18, 2007 N.C. making pitch to win coveted lab for warfare germs Sep 17, 2007 Some sure, some not, of lab's safety Sep 16, 2007 State GOP names executive director Sep 14, 2007 Bishop Opposes Enhanced Facility On Plum Island Sep 13, 2007 U.S. unilaterism shifts to climate issue Sep 11, 2007 Foot and mouth blamed on lab drains Sep 8, 2007 Judge's remarks irk BU biolab opponents Sep 7, 2007 Biosafety and Biosecurity International Conference 2007 to be held in Abu Dhabi from November 12 to 14 Sep 6, 2007 Residents fight recent NIH biolab study Sep 6, 2007 Biolab gets boost from federal study Sep 4, 2007 A very dangerous field: UGA seeks bioterror role Sep 2, 2007 Biggest headlines from the 2006-07 year Sep 1, 2007 Biosecurity lapses Aug 30, 2007 Enhanced Defense Facility Proposed For Plum Island Aug 30, 2007 U.S. seeks home for research on fearsome diseases Aug 28, 2007 Deadly Nipah Virus Can Be Transmitted To Offspring During Pregnancy Aug 27, 2007 Infectious bacteria, viruses live in local labs Aug 25, 2007 Study says biolab not a threat to S. End Aug 24, 2007 OUR OPINION: State board makes right call on Senate proposal Aug 22, 2007 Easy-to-use Anthrax Vaccine Produces Immunity With Nanoparticles, Not Needles Aug 18, 2007 Blasting resumes near CDC 'hot' labs Aug 17, 2007 Outbreak in Britain raises biosafety concerns Aug 10, 2007 Biolabs, CDC get Congress' attention Aug 8, 2007 Explainer: The search for the source Aug 7, 2007 Holocaust survivors rally over stipend Aug 6, 2007 Rural lab scoured for foot-and-mouth clues Aug 6, 2007 British experts examine lab suspected as source of foot-and-mouth Aug 6, 2007 Search at U.K. Lab for Foot-and-Mouth Aug 6, 2007 Paper clothes and air filters to keep pathogens in Aug 6, 2007 Mozzie wipeout with a sci-fi touch Jul 30, 2007 UC Davis vets on the move Jul 25, 2007 CDC told about electrical flaws as early as '01 Jul 24, 2007 Outage exposes flaws at CDC lab Jul 23, 2007 Laboratory Letdowns Jul 17, 2007 Bio defense: State is in the running Jul 15, 2007 Stakeholders scrutinize Biotechnology Policy Jul 13, 2007 A&M loses bid for biodefense site Jul 13, 2007 San Antonio finalist for germ lab Jul 12, 2007 CDC lab's backup power fails Jul 7, 2007 Plague of Bioweapons Accidents Afflict U.S. Jul 6, 2007 Biodefence work halted at US university Jul 4, 2007 Change to gene theory raises new challenges for biotech Jul 4, 2007 UTMB hones biosafety focus with smallpox vaccines trial Jul 2, 2007 On the Brink of Artificial Life Jun 19, 2007 SoCal Institutions Receive New Funds For Stem Cell Research Jun 6, 2007
Could investment in biosafety research be leaving the public more at risk ... Critics of the expansion claim that the mishaps indict the entire biosafety research programme ... And the number of biosafety 4 laboratories studying deadly pathogens without cures has grown from 5 in 2001 to 15 either in operation or being planned today. (Nature News Service)
India gets high-security lab for human diseases Oct 11, 2007
The US$25-million biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) lab is to be established on a 2-hectare site in Hyderabad, about 3 kilometres from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). The centre has been given responsibility for setting up the new lab as a national facility. (Nature News Service)
The European Biosafety Association (EBSA), which represents people working in biosafety and associated activities, said that it thought the two-tier approach was unworkable and contrary to scientific freedom ... As well as the two-tier system of publication, the green paper suggests that research grants should be awarded, in part, on the basis of applicants' compliance with biosafety standards ... Both groups broadly welcomed the idea of making grants conditional on compliance with biosafety... (Nature News Service)
In 1956, PIADC was built just off the shores of Orient Point, according to Dr. Larry Barrett, the director of PIADC. Operating as a biosafety level three facility, the mission of the center is to research and diagnose harmful zoological disease agents in order to protect US animal industries ... As with previous projects, Barrett continued, "we're just taking some of the existing facilities we have ... and upgrading them." "This will help make the operation of Plum Island, as a biosafety level... (Suffolk Life Newspapers, NY)
He added four employees to the university's Office of Biosafety and revamped the Institutional Biosafety Committee, including experts on cellular biology, veterinary and human medicine, infectious diseases, agriculture and other fields, a physical plant official and an Athens retiree among its members. He also ordered the committee to meet monthly to review safety precautions for research into infectious diseases, he said. (Athens Banner-Herald)
"Biosafety Level 3 and Level 4 labs often contain the most dangerous infectious disease agents, for example, Ebola, smallpox, avian influenza and SARS, including those for which effective vaccines or treatment may not be available," he told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. "Although high-containment labs are designed to promote the safety of researchers and the public, accidents and security breaches have occurred in the past.". (AZCentral)
Because of the efforts of the individuals in these programs, there is improved awareness of biosafety and biosecurity throughout the select agent community. . (MSNBC -- Terrorism)
In response to a request from Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety, the Watertown Board of Health held an informational hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 18, on the potential public health impacts on Watertown of the bioweapons defense lab, or Biosafety Level 4 Laboratory, proposed by Boston University in the Roxbury/South End neighborhood of Boston. This lab will work with some of the most lethal, contagious and incurable diseases known, which would cause a public health disaster in case of an... (Watertown TAB & Press, MA)
Subscribers to Science can read a into biosafety problems in this weeks issue. This raises the point that money has been pouring into biodefence work since the 2001 Anthrax attacks and asks Are the nations. (Nature News Service)
BU said that the researchers, who were working in a Biosafety Level-2 lab, violated safety procedures intended to protect them from exposure, and the accident led city health authorities to impose new oversight on all labs in Boston ... That controversial project, known as a Biosafety Level-4 lab, is under construction on BU's South End campus and expected to open in about a year. (Boston Globe)
In an article in the current issue (September) of the journal Applied Biosafety, UW-Madison molecular biologist and associate biological safety officer Margy Lambert describes the gene delivery potential of transposons, stretches of DNA capable of jumping from one DNA molecule to another. "Almost any application where you use viral vectors, you could use this technique," explains Lambert. (EurekAlert!)
The centerpiece of the project, which is under construction on Albany Street, is a Biosafety Level-4 lab where scientists will be able to study the world's deadliest germs, including Ebola, anthrax, and plague. M hlberger's research on Ebola and another highly lethal germ, Marburg virus, has been published in such prominent research journals as Science and the Journal of Virology. (Boston Globe)
The Scientist : Biosafety lapses prompt govt ... Biosafety lapses prompt govt ... "It appears that there has been a surge in construction of biosafety labs over the past several years which have been financed, at least in part, with federal funds," said Dingell in a. (The Scientist)
The construction of the Boston University Level-4 Biosafety Laboratory in the South End has drawn its share of vocal critics who have condemned the project. And BU's latest administrative pick will take on the brunt of some of the criticism. (Boston University Daily Free Press, MA)
CDC hasn't offered any explanation for its oversights, but says the biosafety inspections are comprehensive and workers use a checklist of nationally recognized safety standards. More Stories. (KWTX.com, TX)
Scientists will use the Foundation's biosafety level 4 containment laboratory to study the Marburg virus. The Southwest National Primate Research Center also will play a role on the research program. (San Antonio Business Journal, TX)
The university approved Kawaoka's study initially for a Biosafety Level 3, Klein said. Several of UW-Madison's laboratories are Level 3 labs, but none are Level 4, where the most stringent guidelines to contain the most dangerous pathogens are applied. (Herald Online, SC -- Health)
The use of retroviral or lentiviral vectors has been reported in rodents, but it requires that animals be handled and maintained under higher biosafety precautions that render this approach less practical for transgenesis in large animal species. In contrast, animals exposed to AAV can be maintained under standard husbandry conditions. (EurekAlert!)
The study was stopped last fall after a National Institutes of Health official told the university the material must be contained at labs with the highest level of security, or Biosafety Level 4. Researcher Yoshi Kawaoka, his colleagues and the public were never at risk because the deadly virus itself was never present in the lab, said UW-Madison biological safety officer Jan Klein. (Rhinelander Daily News, WI)
The study was stopped last fall after a National Institutes of Health official told the university the material must be contained at labs with the highest level of security, or Biosafety Level 4 ... She said a university committee approved Kawaoka s research for a Biosafety Level 3 lab after performing a required risk assessment. (Winona Daily News, MN)
In his foundation role, he oversees the nation's only privately owned biosafety level 4 laboratory (which conducts important research on deadly pathogens in a highly secured environment), so every day Kerr is surrounded by beaker-toting researchers and scientists. But Kerr's quest for the biodefense lab is about so much more than adding another trophy to the city's medical cabinet. (San Antonio Business Journal, TX)
The design of each lab depends on its use, said Jonathan Richmond, a biosafety consultant who has worked in the field for 30 years ... The U.S. government divides labs into four different levels of biosafety, including the following examples. (News & Observer)
" But many Athenians, along with residents and activists across the country, don't share Perdue's and other officials' confidence. They're asking tough questions about what types of organisms will be kept at the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, what precautions will be taken to keep them from escaping and how the lab will affect the community. "This kind of facility poses significant risk no matter where it's built," said Edward Hammond, director of the U.S. office of The Sunshine... (Athens Banner-Herald)
Scientist named to Biosafety Lab post Boston University has named a federal scientist who specializes in the study of the deadly Ebola and Marburg viruses to the number two position at its controversial high-security laboratory being built in the South End. Thomas W. Geisbert will become associate director of the Biosafety Level-4 Laboratory and related facilities on Albany Street, where scientists will work with the world's most dangerous germs, including Ebola, anthrax, and plague ... Geisbert... (Boston Globe)
The United States Department of Homeland Security is looking at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center as a prospective site for the biosafety level four facility ... A new biosafety level four facility would strengthen the country's "biosecurity" infrastructure, as well as study and combat threatening diseases, he explained, noting that the DHS is considering Plum Island as a viable option, as previously reported in Suffolk Life ... The congressman explained that his office has received numerous... (Suffolk Life Newspapers, NY)
And this they vehemently refuse to do, as they refuse to ratify the Biodiversity Convention and its Biosafety Protocol. As the U.S. administration is steered by lobbyists for interest groups and the concerns of the military-industrial complex, as everybody knows, and as recently exposed by Newsweek -- normally an instrument of American foreign policy -- in the case of climate change refusal, the U.S. attempt is only meant to introduce sophisticated new impediments in reducing the use of fossil... (Jakarta Post, Indonesia -- Editorial)
Two reports were published yesterday: a Health and Safety Executive investigation into breaches of biosecurity, and an independent review of biosafety by Brian Spratt, a disease expert at Imperial College London ... Prof Spratt said that the IAH had been complacent about biosafety and that the drains were "poorly maintained and rarely inspected". (Guardian Unlimited)
Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall of the Supreme Judicial Court made the remarks during arguments in a case filed by 10 Boston residents suing to block the Biosafety Level-4 laboratory from being built on Boston University's medical school campus ... The lawyer for BU, John M. Stevens, told the judges there was no evidence from the operations of other Biosafety Level-4 labs in the United States that the BU facility will pose a danger to neighbors. (Boston Globe)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Environment Agency -- Abu Dhabi (EAD) is teaming up with the International Council for Life Sciences (ICLS), based in Washington DC, USA, to organize Biosafety and Biosecurity International Conference 2007: A Seminar for Life Science and Policy Communities in the Gulf and MENA region from November 12-14, 2007 at the Hilton Hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates ... "We need to build a global network between governments, international... (PR Newswire)
A week after the National Institutes of Health released a report stating Boston University's Level-4 Biosafety laboratory poses no threat to its future home in the South End, angry community members renewed complaints of "environmental racism.". A dispute over construction of the lab reached Supreme Judicial Court yesterday, where Boston citizens who sued the Boston Redevelopment Authority claim the biolab poses a danger to poor residents near the site. (Boston University Daily Free Press, MA)
Boston University can continue construction of its high-profile Level-4 Biosafety laboratory with increased confidence, much to the ire of laboratory opponents, thanks to a recently released report from the National Institutes of Health. The report, released Aug. 24 after months of research, concluded the construction of a Level-4 laboratory, which deals with some of the world's deadliest pathogens, is just as safe in the city's most densely populated neighborhoods as it would be in a suburban... (Boston University Daily Free Press, MA)
At UGA, research on dangerous agents is reviewed by a biosafety committee, which looks closely at how it will be conducted, what safety protocols will be followed and the training of the researchers, says Maria Kuhn, the college's director of biosafety. She says UGA has had no incidents that required reporting to the CDC.. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Metro)
Despite continued protests, the Boston University Medical Campus made major steps toward the completion of the fifth Level-4 Biosafety Laboratory in the United States. Located in Roxbury, this will be the first Level-4 biolab to be in such a densely populated area. (Boston University Daily Free Press, MA)
At the same time the long and dishonourable list of biosafety lapses continues to expand ... Even so, the high rate of biosafety incidents uncovered by bodies such as the Sunshine Project and the Council for Responsible Genetics suggests that many labs need a stronger safety culture ... The Pirbright biosafety reviews will be judged not only by their technical content but also by their openness. (Onet.pl)
The current PIum Island Animal Disease Center operates at "biosafety level three," said Orluskie ... If a NBAF were built on Plum Island, the building would function as a biosafety level four structure, he continued. (Suffolk Life Newspapers, NY)
Plans for the next-generation National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, slated to go online by 2013, include biosafety labs where scientists, clad in outfits resembling spacesuits and tethered to air supplies, would research diseases that can spread to people from animals ... There are four labs that run at biosafety level 4, which calls for multiple safeguards while handling high-risk disease organisms, in urban areas -- Atlanta, the Washington, D.C. suburbs, and in Galveston and San Antonio,... (Scientific American)
Nipah virus and its closely related cousin Hendra virus (henipaviruses) are recently emerged viral pathogens and both agents are restricted to the highest level of containment; biosafety level (BSL)-4 and considered to be potential biological terror agents. Hendra virus emerged in Queensland, Australia, in 1994, killing one human and 14 horses and it was responsible for at least four other sporadic outbreaks involving horses and humans between 1994 and 2006. (Science Daily)
Several labs in San Diego County study bacteria or viruses that the federal government recommends handling under "biosafety level three" conditions, lingo that describes measures such as double doors and air filters that counter the threat of airborne transmission ... Scripps and UCSD representatives were more willing to discuss a broader measure of biological safety, four "biosafety levels" defined by the National Institutes of Health ... The bottom level, biosafety level one, could be done in... (North County Times)
It is one of two Biosafety Level-4 labs under construction in the United States to study biological agents that could potentially be used by terrorists, including viruses, bacteria, and funguses. Residents and a conservation group have sued in both federal and state courts to halt construction of the lab, which the university says is now halfway complete and slated to open in 2008. (Boston Globe)
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Because of the biosafety restrictions on the use of anthrax, these challenge experiments were done at the Batelle Memorial Institute and the University of Texas Medical Branch, which have labs federally approved for handling the pathogen. The experiments so far have shown that the vaccine had no significant side effects and produced effective immunity for at least six months. (Science Daily)
The most dangerous work occurs in Biosafety Level 3 and 4 labs. In Level 4 labs, workers wear protective moon suits and gloves and work with infectious agents for which there is no cure, such as Ebola, which causes one of the most virulent viral diseases known, resulting in death in 50 to 90% of all clinically ill cases. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Metro)
Biosafety concernsThough agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health make recommendations for handling dangerous viruses and bacteria, they are just that: recommendations ... Concerns about biosafety were triggered after three laboratory-related outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Singapore, Taiwan and China in 2003 and 2004 ... We can try to mitigate the risk, but zero risk is probably one of... (MSNBC -- Health)
CDC's $214 million building on Clifton Road has Biosafety Level 3 and 4 labs which are used to experiment on the world's most dangerous germs. The Level 3 labs were in use at the time lightning knocked out power to the building for an hour. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Merial Animal Health and the Institute of Animal Health (IAH), which share the Pirbright laboratory site, have said that their biosafety procedures have not been breached but if Pirbright is confirmed as the source, ministers and farmers will be anxious to know how - despite the highest "category 4" level of biosecurity - a leak could have happened. The investigation involves at least five inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive - including three from the specialist biological agents... (Guardian Unlimited)
Biosafety experts scoured a high-security animal laboratory in rural England Sunday to determine how a strain of the foot-and-mouth virus may have escaped from a facility dedicated to eliminating the devastating animal disease. Officials increasingly suspect that the lab home to a government research center and a company that makes foot-and-mouth vaccine was the source of the outbreak on a nearby farm. (Seattle Times)
PIRBRIGHT Biosafety experts scoured a rural laboratory Sunday in a hunt for the possible source of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on a southern English farm. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the focus was on determining how the virus could have escaped from the facility, where the disease is researched and a vaccine manufactured. (Globe and Mail)
LONDON (AP) - British biosafety experts are examining a high-security research lab in southern England that's suspected of being the source of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Britain's agriculture department says the strain of the disease found at the lab is identical to that found on a farm just a few miles away. (FOX23 News, NY)
(Pirbright, England) Biosafety experts scoured a rural laboratory Sunday in a hunt for the possible source of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on a southern English farm. Related Articles. (Time.com)
Brian Spratt, a professor of molecular microbiology at Imperial College London who is leading the review, will want to find out how the virus escaped from what is supposedly one of the most secure biosafety facilities in the country ... Both the Institute of Animal Health laboratory and the Merial lab at the Pirbright site use category 4 biosafety measures when handling the virus or using it to manufacture vaccines ... The most likely possible causes of the leak are that one of these biosafety... (Guardian Unlimited -- Life)
According to Assoc Prof Chan Woon Khiong, chairman of the sub-committee for Research BioSafety within the Genetic Modification Advisory Committee, any future fieldwork in Singapore on transgenic mosquitoes must be first accompanied by extensive lab research and controlled field trials. This may take three to five years or even longer. (Channel NewsAsia, Singapore)
The building includes one Biosafety Level 3 lab for the study of West Nile virus. A federally supported service lab the Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank is also located in the building along with research support services and academic and administrative offices. (Davis Enterprise, CA)
Richard Ebright, a microbiologist on Rutgers University's biosafety committee agreed. "It's a grave breach of responsibility and raises serious questions about the priorities of senior management at CDC," said Ebright. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
"This is an astonishing design lapse," said Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist on Rutgers University's biosafety committee ... The most dangerous work occurs in Biosafety Level 3 and 4 labs ... The new CDC building has a suite of six Biosafety Level 4 labs, designed to contain the likes of Ebola and smallpox, that will begin operations this year. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- World)
Accidental infections in biosafety labs go unreported. By John Dudley Miller. (Scientific American)
But it will be state of the art, with the same security level as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta -BioSafety Level 4, which is the nation's highest. In fact, it's being called "an animal CDC.". (The Clarion-Ledger)
" He explained that the process of drawing up policy had brought to their attention the double-edged character of the new technology. Prof. Owusu-Bennoah called for the need to provide a structure for political, social, regulatory and administrative responsibility as well as transparent decision processes for the development of the biotechnology policy. Dr George Essegbey, Acting Director of STEPRI, who gave the details of the policy said the policy addressed issues on agriculture, industry,... (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Aone of 18 finalists in the running to host the $450 million facility, which will be responsible for studying high consequence biological threats for humans and animals and will be capable of handling diseases and pathogens rated at the highest biosafety levels ... No one died from exposure to the diseases, but CDC officials said they had to question whether or not Abiosafety standards. (The Battalion, TX)
Homeland Security plans to build a $450 million to $500 million facility that will cover 520,000 square feet and include a high-security biosafety level 4, or BSL 4, laboratory, where scientists work in spacesuits to protect themselves from diseases that have no known cures. Homeland Security has identified eight "diseases of interest" for potential study at the facility, none of them household names, but all deadly or debilitating to pigs, goats, horses, sheep and cattle. (Houston Chronicle)
The suite of Biosafety Level 4 labs, designed to contain the likes of Ebola and avian influenza, was unoccupied during the June 15 outage ... The pathogens they would have been working with would have been shut into special lab biosafety cabinets in each work area and all the walls, doors and seals would have kept the units contained, he said. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
The revelations come from Ed Hammond of the Sunshine Project, a biosafety pressure group based in Austin, Texas, US, who after persistent requests got the minutes of university biosafety committees using the US Freedom of Information Act. The minutes are accessible to the public by law. (Newsmax)
"When you see a lapse such as this, you begin to wonder what else is not going according to the biosafety guidelines," says Jonathan Richmond, former director of the Office of Health and Safety at the CDC until 2002. His office established rules governing select agents. (Nature News Service)
"The industrial gene is one that can be defined, owned, tracked, proven acceptably safe, proven to have uniform effect, sold and recalled," said Jack Heinemann, a professor of molecular biology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and director of its Center for Integrated Research in Biosafety. In the United States, the Patent and Trademark Office allows genes to be patented on the basis of this uniform effect or function. (International Herald Tribune -- Money Report)
Members: Not Registered. for free extra services. (Houston Business Journal, TX)
Another is to have "biosafety" officials oversee research to ensure that pathogens created in labs are kept under control. Such measures are still voluntary. (BusinessWeek)
6 million to construct seven tissue culture workstations with biosafety cabinets, incubators and microscopes. "The grants complement our hard work in developing strong programs and recruiting an outstanding team of scientists," said Dr. Brian Henderson, dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. "The funding will help develop more vitally important facilities that are needed for stem cell investigation and the eventual translation of new discoveries to patient care.". (NBC4.tv, CA)
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