Research
The synthetic biology firm Twist Bioscience Corporation is espousing the benefits of Battelle's ThreatSEQTM web service DNA screening platform, which is designed to aid in bolstering internal biosecurity efforts.
“Battelle created the ThreatSEQ web service with significant input from industry... Read More »
A recent report from the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) lays out present problems in global access to antibiotics.
The majority of the world’s annual 5.7 million antibiotic-treatable deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. The mortality burden from... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) recommends that military recruits entering basic training continue to be inoculated with a vaccine for the adenovirus, a DNA virus considered to be a major cause of febrile illness.
While adenoviruses are usually spread through coughing, sneezing or after... Read More »
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials said they are expediting efforts to develop an African Swine Fever vaccine and diagnostic initiatives.
African Swine Fever is a viral disease capable of wreaking havoc in a pig’s body, causing... Read More »
A new, investigational and universal influenza vaccine candidate reached an important milestone this week, beginning its first human trial under the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
That test will examine its safety and tolerability, along with its ability to do... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently
issued three recommendations for the director of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) in regards to determining security measures for radioactive
material.
The GAO is required to review NRC's security requirements
for high-risk... Read More »
A new, $22 million grant-driven project will lead an international consortium of scientists to develop antibody-based means of combating Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), Andes virus (ANDV), Sin Nombre virus (SNV) and the Puumula virus (PUUV) over the next five years.
The effort,... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is joining Israeli Police in espousing the benefits of a new 3-D crime scene investigation tool.
Officials said 3D-Hawk can turn a crash or crime scene into an interactive 3D model within minutes, based... Read More »
A pair of studies conducted by scientists from the United States, United Kingdom, Thailand, Bangladesh, Namibia and Norway suggest that combining data of parasite genetics and human movement could improve efforts at tracking and fighting malaria transmission.
"Countries and regional blocs are... Read More »
The U.S.
Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
is asking Sevier County, Tenn., residents who were affected by the November
2016 Chimney Tops 2 Fire to participate in a survey.
The goal of the
survey is to identify the factors that influenced people to... Read More »
Auburn University has secured $564,988 in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funds to develop projects designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of canines trained to detect explosives.
The funding allotment was provided through the DHS Science and Technology Directorate... Read More »
Rising temperatures brought on by climate change could expose as many as a billion more people to disease-carrying mosquitoes, according to a new study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
As temperatures rise across the globe, the territory of these mosquitoes expands, as well as the... Read More »
The Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation (SDPE) office at the Air Force Research Laboratory is seeking artificial intelligence (AI) industry input regarding incorporating artificial intelligence into its Skyborg unmanned combat vehicle.
SDPE office is seeking to develop Skyborg, a... Read More »
As the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to deal with the most recent Ebola epidemic, a study from the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal shows that lack of trust might be a contributing factor.
Violent episodes have complicated matters in the DRC, but one bad turn tends to foster... Read More »
Recognizing the cybersecurity dangers posed by modern chip designs and accessible devices, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has created a new program dedicated to spreading scalable chip security through automation.
The Automatic Implementation of Secure Silicon (AISS)... Read More »
An outbreak of Ebola that has raged through the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since last August has now passed more than 1,000 cases, making it the second largest outbreak ever recorded.
These figures come from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA)
Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE) system successfully
completed a mission objectives test in February.
The test included unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with
CODE, which allow teams of systems to autonomously share... Read More »
The Norwich University Applied Research Institutes (NUARI) has received $5.9 million from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to bolster information infrastructure protection.
The effort would expand the Distributed Environment for Critical... Read More »
As a means of bolstering forensics data gathering efforts, Marine Corps officials are updating the branch's Expeditionary Forensics Exploitation Capability (EFEC) with newer IT technology.
The EFEC, which is used to differentiate between friend or foe on the battlefield, also serves as a... Read More »
Within a few decades, the Lancet medical journal’s Commission on Tuberculosis (TB) believes that the disease could be eliminated if proper funding, increased research, and greater accountability mechanisms are provided.
Setting and reaching targets is crucial. The disease is already... Read More »
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
awarded BAE Systems a $3.1 million contract to continue developing autonomy software
for air mission planning for the military.
BAE Systems has created software called the Distributed,
Interactive, Command-and-Control Tool (DIRECT)... Read More »
A new global index offers an original way to monitor national-level preparedness for infectious disease, providing a holistic view of a country’s capacity to mitigate the spread of illness and pandemics.
Created by researchers at Metabiota, the Epidemic Preparedness Index (EPI) factors... Read More »
A study conducted by Australia’s University of Queensland and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute recently uncovered the Zika virus’s evolutionary processes, allowing access to the genetic factors responsible for Zika’s dangerous spread.
The technique used in the study utilized... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions said on Tuesday it will begin a Phase 3 trial of a new anthrax vaccine it is developing.
The Phase 3 trial will evaluate the lot consistency, immunogenicity, and safety of the vaccine, called AV7909. AV7909 is designed to elicit a faster immune response than other anthrax... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a series of recommendations to aid agencies in identifying critical workforce needs and categorize IT and cyber-related positions.
The analysis, which resulted in 28 recommendations, stemmed from having a qualified, well-trained... Read More »
In a randomized trial, the antimalarial effects of ivermectin showed that the drug has the potential to reduce malaria episodes among children aged five or younger by as much as one-fifth.
Repeated mass administration of ivermectin could reduce those episodes from 2.49 to 2 cases per child... Read More »
The Department of
Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) are researching Internet of Things (IoT) as it relates to emergency
communications for first responders.
S&T is
testing a multicomponent communications system... Read More »
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) officials recently launched this year's initial Innovation Challenge, which organizers said seeks to find ways for NATO to respond to security challenges and crises.
NATO officials said they are seeking solutions from entrepreneurs, designers,... Read More »
An influenza season forecasting challenge issued annually by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has shown the value of cooperation among international researchers working to forecast influenza outbreaks.
The influenza season forecasting challenge is one issued annually by... Read More »
A new vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been designed from nanoparticles, and its efficacy against the illness in mice and monkeys has opened the path to human trials.
RSV is respiratory virus that causes mild, cold-like symptoms in most people, and has a relatively... Read More »
The Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking innovative technologies and
methodologies to map and survey subterranean environments for its Subterranean
Challenge.
Most underground environments are either uncharted or
inadequately mapped. The technologies could improve... Read More »
An international team of researchers have statistically predicted where mosquitoes will spread through the use of 35 years of data and 17 climate change models.
That spread data includes everything from short to long-term timeframes and, the scientists note, is precise within 5x5 kilometers.... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recently announced a new, $10 million partnership with Public Health Vaccines LLC to study potential vaccine treatments for the Marburg virus.
Through the Biomedical Advanced research and Development Authority (BARDA), the DHHS will work... Read More »
The Department of
Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have collaborated to develop the
Opacity and Complexity Analysis Software Tool (OCAST).
OCAST will be
used to assist X-ray operators in determining possible... Read More »
Scientists from the Texas Biomedical Research Institute are developing a new approach to tuberculosis (TB) protection -- one that provides a better, safer defense and is deliverable by spray instead of shot.
These represent major changes to the vaccine, but the scientists are seeking to... Read More »
