Counter-terorrism labs meant to fight bioterrorism like the Arkansas Department of Health have instead started to help police identify a synthetic drug that produces a marijuana-like high and has sent hundreds to the hospital. The lab typically creates tests, such … Read More

A university professor allegedly sent an anthrax-containing packet to Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s office in October, a spokesman for the prime minister recently revealed. The package, which was allegedly sent by a female professor who was not otherwise … Read More

The biotechnology firm nanoRETE has been created in an effort to design and market nanoparticle-based handheld biosensors to detect multiple threats, including anthrax, tuberculosis, E. coli and salmonella. Evangelyn Alocilja, nanoRETE’s chief scientific officer, developed the nanoparticles used in the … Read More

Ellen Tauscher will formally resign as the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security in February after a successful battle with esophageal cancer. Tauscher will be appointed to a newly created position known as the “special envoy for … Read More

Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of a controversial mutant H5N1 study, said that there are key differences between his study and another controversial study in the Netherlands. Kawaoka and Ron Fouchier of the … Read More

The medical staff at Doncaster Royal Infirmary in South Yorkshire, England, were put on full alert after an anthrax panic on Sunday. The incident occurred when a woman turned up at the hospital after potentially taking a suspected heroin overdose. … Read More

According to the lead scientist of the lab-engineered airborne strain of avian flu in Wisconsin, the strain is not lethal and can be defeated with existing medicines. Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor of virology at the University of Wisconsin, said that … Read More

Preliminary testing on a suspicious powder found outside of an Israeli Consulate building in Boston has come up negative for hazardous substances, including anthrax. The Boston Fire Department said on Tuesday that the powder was not hazardous and that they … Read More

The Israeli Consulate in Boston was shut down on Monday for several hours after envelopes were found in the building with the word “anthrax” written on them. Police and fire crews locked down the building and the surrounding area on … Read More

The U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency issued a request on Wednesday for information on the development of a handheld device that could be used by front-line soldiers to identify and characterize biothreats and disease agents. The information request, released by … Read More