 |
|
Scientists aim to thwart use of flu as bioweapon
June 22, 2006Flu is already a big killer, responsible for more than 35,000 deaths in the United States alone each year. And wild birds infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu are gradually broadening the scope of that disease. This week in Rochester, scientists are discussing ways to better understand the flu and also how to prevent the possibility that terrorists could somehow modify flu as a bioweapon to make it even more lethal than it is already.
Among the highlights of this week's two-day symposium, hosted by the University of Rochester Center for Biodefense Immune Modeling, is a lecture by Nobel Prize winner Peter Doherty, Ph.D., an expert on how flu spurs the immune system to defend itself against the infection. Doherty's technical talk on the roles of specific types of T-cells in influenza will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday, June 23, at the Rochester Marriott Airport Hotel on West Ridge Road. The lecture is free and open to the public.
During the symposium Thursday and Friday, University of Rochester experts in mathematics, statistics, immunology, and infectious diseases will join with colleagues from around the nation to discuss exactly how flu invades the body, how the body responds, and how mathematicians, statisticians, and computer scientists are working to help understand the pathogenesis of flu infection. The group will also talk about the potential of flu to be intentionally modified for use as a lethal weapon more deadly than bird flu, and ways to prevent that from happening.
"Flu viruses are deadly — witness the 1918 Spanish flu which killed millions of people — and with modification, they can be made even more deadly," said Hulin Wu, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology and director of the modeling center. Wu's colleague, Martin Zand, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of the center, added that "We don't know whether flu will be weaponized; it's crucial to ask the question and to be prepared."
The focus of Wu's center, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is the mathematical modeling of infectious diseases. When the flu virus infects the body, for instance, a cascade of complex events occur to fight the virus as it commandeers cells and begins churning out viral particles that attack the body. The immune system falls back on an array of cells, especially antibody-producing B-cells and flu-killing T cells, to fight back. Understanding just how that occurs, and simulating that with computers, is the goal of the center.
Wu points to the improved treatment of HIV as an area where such an approach has already yielded enormous benefit to patients. Once considered a death sentence, HIV infection is now more commonly viewed as a chronic infection thanks largely to improved treatment. Much of the improvement is due to early mathematical models that helped scientists and physicians understand and target the disease more effectively.
"How flu infects the body and how the body responds to a flu infection is not understood completely," said Wu. "Mathematical models will help guide flu experts to ask the right questions, so that we understand it more thoroughly than we do today. Understanding exactly what is happening should help scientists evaluate how the virus will respond to drugs designed to treat an infection."
Since flu is already a killer, the discussions will have an immediate application among scientists looking for ways to stop or better treat "natural" flu. The work also helps scientists like John Treanor, M.D., and David Topham, Ph.D., who are designing and testing new vaccines designed to prevent all types of flu, including bird flu. The University is recognized internationally as a leader in the testing of bird-flu vaccines.
"For many years people did not recognize the importance of flu research," said Topham, associate professor of Microbiology and Immunology and a scientist in the David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology. "Flu research was seen as humdrum and routine, and there was no driving force to do that research. It just sort of blended into the background. People assumed that since there is a vaccine, it wasn't a disease of interest any more.
"But with bird flu on the horizon and the vaccine shortages that have occurred in recent years, it's become a hotbed of research interest. Besides, flu is responsible for 35,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations in the United States alone. It's a serious health problem,\\\
University of Rochester Medical Center
"Flu viruses are deadly — witness the 1918 Spanish flu which killed millions of people — and with modification, they can be made even more deadly," said Hulin Wu, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology and director of the modeling center. Wu's colleague, Martin Zand, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of the center, added that "We don't know whether flu will be weaponized; it's crucial to ask the question and to be prepared."
The focus of Wu's center, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is the mathematical modeling of infectious diseases. When the flu virus infects the body, for instance, a cascade of complex events occur to fight the virus as it commandeers cells and begins churning out viral particles that attack the body. The immune system falls back on an array of cells, especially antibody-producing B-cells and flu-killing T cells, to fight back. Understanding just how that occurs, and simulating that with computers, is the goal of the center.
Wu points to the improved treatment of HIV as an area where such an approach has already yielded enormous benefit to patients. Once considered a death sentence, HIV infection is now more commonly viewed as a chronic infection thanks largely to improved treatment. Much of the improvement is due to early mathematical models that helped scientists and physicians understand and target the disease more effectively.
"How flu infects the body and how the body responds to a flu infection is not understood completely," said Wu. "Mathematical models will help guide flu experts to ask the right questions, so that we understand it more thoroughly than we do today. Understanding exactly what is happening should help scientists evaluate how the virus will respond to drugs designed to treat an infection."
Since flu is already a killer, the discussions will have an immediate application among scientists looking for ways to stop or better treat "natural" flu. The work also helps scientists like John Treanor, M.D., and David Topham, Ph.D., who are designing and testing new vaccines designed to prevent all types of flu, including bird flu. The University is recognized internationally as a leader in the testing of bird-flu vaccines.
"For many years people did not recognize the importance of flu research," said Topham, associate professor of Microbiology and Immunology and a scientist in the David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology. "Flu research was seen as humdrum and routine, and there was no driving force to do that research. It just sort of blended into the background. People assumed that since there is a vaccine, it wasn't a disease of interest any more.
"But with bird flu on the horizon and the vaccine shortages that have occurred in recent years, it's become a hotbed of research interest. Besides, flu is responsible for 35,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations in the United States alone. It's a serious health problem,\\\
University of Rochester Medical Center
Bioweapon Current Events and Bioweapon News RSSResearchers find pathway and enzyme unique to tularemia organism
Researchers are closer to developing therapies to combat the deadly tularemia infection, according to a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' online Early Edition.
Nose-spray vaccine against botulism effective in first tests
A preclinical study found a new nasal spray vaccine to provide complete protection against a major botulism toxin, according to a study published today in the Nature journal Gene Therapy.
New finding points way to foiling anthrax's tricks
University of California, Berkeley, chemists have discovered a trick that anthrax bacteria use to make an end run around the body's defenses, but which may turn out to be their Achilles' heel.
Plant-derived vaccines safeguard against deadly plague
Through an innovative feat of plant biotechnology and vaccine design, researchers in the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have successfully turned tobacco plants into vaccine production factories to combat the deadliest form of plague.
Serious adverse reactions to smallpox vaccine appear to be limited
There was a low rate of life-threatening adverse reactions to the smallpox vaccine administered to potential first responders to a bioterrorism incident, possibly attributable to rigorous vaccine safety screening and educational programs.
Olive residues as pesticides
During the production of olive oils a huge amount of peels, stones and other solid components arises. After appropriate treatment these residues seem to be suitable for inhibiting dangerous moulds. While searching for new recycling ways the undesirable bio waste scientists of the University of Bonn discovered the mould inhibiting potential of the olive residues and could prove it in the lab scale. The project is funded by the "Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ern'¤hrung" (state department of agriculture and nutrition). Living next door to an olive grower is not always pleasant: On one hand the final products are popular and tasty edible oils. But on the other hand the produ
More Bioweapon Current Events and Bioweapon News Articles
 |
Clinical Guide to Bioweapons and Chemical Agents by Vincent E. Friedewald (Author) Recent events of the past 5 years are fundamentally driving the need for enhanced public health protection across the world. Although the issues are complex, one aspect is paramount: new, innovative approaches for early identification and intervention are essential for optimal responses to these dangers. The many challenges confronting healthcare systems include: Operation at near-capacity much of the time, with severely limited ability to absorb the increasing burdens of potential public health issues Serious neglect of the public health system for many years Suboptimal working relationships between public health agencies and "front-line" health care practitionersThis book will assist in the new public health response to the threats from bioterrorism and other... |
 |
Episode 3 Also With: Gub Neal (Producer) |
 |
One Kutski vs Bioweapon (Primary Contributor) |
 |
60 Minutes - The Anthrax Case (March 11 2007) Airdate: 3/11/07 - Remember the anthrax bioterrorism scare? A month after 9/11, letters were mailed out laced with the deadly bacteria, and five people died. The crime has not been solved, and only one person has been publicly named as a "person of interest": Dr. Steven Hatfill. Hatfill has sued the FBI, claiming the agency has spread lies about him and has destroyed his reputation. Has the FBI been leaking false information to the press about the anthrax case? Lesley Stahl reports. This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply. |
 |
21st Century Essential Guide to Agricultural Terrorism, Agroterrorism, Agriterrrorism, Bioweapons, Pathogens, Food, Plants, Livestock (CD-ROM) by U.S. Government (Author) This up-to-date and comprehensive electronic book on CD-ROM presents an incredible collection of important documents, reports, and publications from the federal government about agricultural terrorism, termed either “agriterrorism” or “agroterrorism” by bioweapons experts. There is extensive material from the FDA, CDC, U.S. Department of Agriculture, EPA, along with Senate hearings and additional technical and scientific information. The potential of terrorist attacks against agricultural targets (agroterrorism) is increasingly recognized as a national security threat, especially after the events of September 11, 2001. Agroterrorism is a subset of bioterrorism, and is defined as the deliberate introduction of an animal or plant disease with the goal of generating fear, causing... |
|
Cuba case tests treaty: bioweapons.: An article from: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists by Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc. (Publisher) This digital document is an article from Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc. on November 1, 1997. The length of the article is 1577 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. From the supplier: An October 1996 release of smoke by a US plane over Cuba is alleged to have been a US attempt to infect Cuba's potato with an insect plague. The incident points out the ineffectiveness of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, which has no compliance or investigative mechanisms. Citation Details Title: Cuba case tests treaty:... | |
 |
Derailed Starring: Jean Claude van Damme Directed By: Bob Misiorowski Also With: Boaz Davidson (Writer), Jace Anderson (Writer), Adan Gierasch (Writer) |
|
|
One Kutski vs Bioweapon (Primary Contributor) |
 |
Secrets and Lies : A History of CIA Torture and Bio-Weapon Experiments by Konecky, William S. Associates (Publisher) |
|
|
Derailed Starring: Jean Claude van Damme Directed By: Bob Misiorowski Also With: Boaz Davidson (Writer), Jace Anderson (Writer), Adan Gierasch (Writer) |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |