White House Outlines A New Biodefense Policy

CBS News: Trump administration outlines new biodefense approach

President Trump is directing his administration to implement a new national biodefense strategy, forming a Cabinet-level committee to assess and combat threats, the White House announced Tuesday.

A memo the president signed Tuesday names Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to head up the Biodefense Steering Committee, which will put into place policies coordinated and developed by the president's National Security Council. The Trump administration argues that, while previous administrations assessed biological and chemical threats, this new structure will consolidate the coordination of that process and centralize much of the authority in HHS. Such strategy is necessary to thwart threats from terrorists and other bad actors, the White House says.

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Update #1: White House sets 'new direction' in biodefense strategy (AP)
Update #2: Trump unveils revised US biodefense strategy (AFP)

WNU Editor:  They are changing the policy because the technology and the threat and changing.

Llama Proteins Could Play A Vital Role In The War On Terror

Two llama ignoring the view of Machu Picchu. (Credit: iStockphoto/Marshall Bruce)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Jan. 21, 2010) — Scientists at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) have for the first time developed a highly sensitive means of detecting the seven types of botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) simultaneously.

The BoNT-detecting substances are antibodies -- proteins made by the body to fight diseases -- found in llamas. BoNT are about 100 billion times more toxic than cyanide, and collectively, they are the only toxins in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 'category A' list of potential bioterror threats alongside anthrax, Ebola virus and other infectious agents.

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My Comment: I am just imagining what the scientists had to do in the grant process to get this approve. Hmmmm ....

Researchers Decry Proposed Rules To Secure Bio Research Labs

In Fort Detrick's new BSL-4 laboratory, a labyrinth of ducts guides air in the lab through banks of powerful filters, each of which removes more than 99 percent of particles larger than 0.0003 mm. Staff say air leaves the building cleaner than it arrives.

From Popular Mechanics:

This week, the White House released a study by the Working Group on Strengthening the Biosecurity of the United States that recommends stricter guidelines for dangerous pathogens and stronger screening standards for lab employees. But the reception of the proposed changes has been frosty among scientists, who worry that the restrictions will hamper their work, without obstructing terrorism.

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My Comment: New guidelines and an expanded bureaucracy that is probably making no one happy. But what I cannot help but notice is that after 8 years from the last anthrax attack .... they are only now implementing these rules.

Darpa Seeks New Round Of Proposals For Universal Biosensor

Bio-Threats Darpa is seeking proposals for a antibody biosensor that can effectively identify a wide range of bio-threats. Sari Huella

From Popular Science:

Got a great idea for an antibody biosensor but unsure what to do with it? Darpa wants you. The Department of Defense's future-tech wing is seeking proposals for its newly inaugurated Antibody Technology Program, the latest bid for technologies that can pinpoint specific biological agents ranging from bioterror threats to swine flu.

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My Comment: The technical problems to get such a sensor on the market are daunting. Darpa has done a lot of incredible things, but this has roadblocks that I do not think even they will be able to overcome.

Has Biodefence Research Made America A Safer Place To Live?

From New Scientist:

Has the massive expansion of biodefence research in the US since the anthrax letters of 2001 made America a safer place, or more dangerous?

That's the burning question among specialists in infectious disease, after a flurry of concerns about safety at labs handling potential bioweapons agents.

Biosafety was already on the political agenda, with the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce having scheduled a hearing for 22 September on government oversight of high-containment biolabs.

But the hearing was given a sharper edge by the revelation that Malcolm Casabadan, a microbiologist at the University of Chicago, had died just days before.

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My Comment: Considering the amount of money that is spent .... it better beworth it.

Biodefense Labs Make Bad Neighbors, Residents Say

ON HOLD: The opening of the Boston University Medical Center’s biological defense lab has been delayed by lawsuits. Lab supporters say the research is crucial. Ted Fitzgerald / Boston Herald

From The L.A. Times:

A series of state and federal lawsuits have blocked the opening of a lab complex in Boston. Neighbors are nervous that toxins could get out, and some scientists are likewise skeptical.

Reporting from Boston -- Klare Allen, a once-homeless mother turned community activist, was stunned at a public meeting in 2002 when she and her friends learned that Boston University Medical Center officials planned to build a biological defense laboratory in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods.

"We heard anthrax and Roxbury-South End," she recalled. "Then we heard Ebola. The last thing we heard was bubonic plague. We looked at each other and said, 'No way are they bringing that . . . into our community.' "

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My Comment: Like a nuclear reactor standing next door .... biodefense labs are now on top of the list of "not in my backyard".