Category: Uncategorized

SCOTT GOTTLIEB was voicing criticism of public health approaches to biological threats back in 2003, and here ten years later he is saying similar things. Since 2001, the federal Goverment has spent about ~$50 billion in biological threat preparedness, but these efforts have not been innovative. DARPA, by contrast, has taken on innovative and high-risk projects. Gottlieb suggests a prize-based innovation approach. A smart and fresh voice. http://lnkd.in/dqtST8Z View in LinkedIn

VENTER APPROACHES are a breath of fresh air in the epidemiological and statistically mired rear-view-mirror approach of many in public health who are trying to devise BW solutions. http://lnkd.in/dvxttgj View in LinkedIn

BUSH AUTHORIZED $6 BILLION SPENDING on bioterrorism research after 9/11. Today Craig J Venter complains that too much is spent by career scientists on gravy-train projects, and demonstrated that his anti-establishment and maverick approaches can yield rapid results, exemplified with the human genome sequencing and his round the world search for new species. These approaches are a breath of fresh air in the epidemiological and statistically mired rear-view-mirror approach of many in public health who are trying to devise BW solutions. http://lnkd.in/dvxttgj View in LinkedIn

THE NEXT BLOG STRING deals with the modern search for solutions to the threat of bioterrorism and biowarfare. It comes at a remarkable time, since the enhanced threat facilitated by synthetic biology is also the most credible pathway towards solutions. Previous counter-measures seem quaint compared with the tools on our side today. View in LinkedIn

REGARDLESS OF TREATIES, it appears clear that most countries with the capabilities are engaged in covert biological weapons research, and this is a fact of life. It is also quite clear that there have been numerous secret experiments in civilian populations, and significant accidents, in many countries, with the predictable cover-ups. Truly, it makes punk biotech look quite harmless in comparison. http://lnkd.in/dFHK9z5 View in LinkedIn

OLD APHORISM. If I told you that I held in my hand the secret to eradicate every living leaf, every creature with a feather, every hairy beast, indeed every part of nature, your response would probably be disgust and horror? If I told nature that I held in my hand the secret to eradicate every human on this planet, from north to south and east to west, what would they say? "What took you so long?" View in LinkedIn

CONSPIRACY THEORISTS have had a whale of a time with the covert spraying information, much of which cited the "CovertAction Quarterly ... was an American publication focused on and critical of the US Central Intelligence Agency. It was founded by former CIA officer turned agency critic Philip Agee and others in 1978." Between super-paranoia and super-secrecy there is immense territory for the truth to lie. http://www.nospray.org/SecExper.shtml View in LinkedIn

SCOTT GOTTLIEB has pointed out that the advent of "garage biology" has made bioterrorism more feasible, and more capable of introducing a novel strain. Ricin was not even on the fed's list of agents to watch for. http://lnkd.in/dvGFp5B View in LinkedIn

US UNPREPAREDNESS FOR BIOLOGICAL THREATS. Read this chilling set of articles that include quite scathing criticism by Scott Gittlieb in 2003 of CDC and public health capabilities for diagnosing even natural disease outbreaks, let alone a real and possibly synthetic threat. Reactive diagnosis after the event is too late. A national surveillance system that uses routine hospital blood samples for shotgun DNA sequencing pioneered by Craig J Venter, and checking the data against known viruses worldwide. http://lnkd.in/dvxttgj View in LinkedIn

MERCK'S GERM WARFARE UNIT B "When the USA entered the war, mounting British pressure for the creation of a similar research program for an Allied pooling of resources, led to the creation of a large industrial complex at Fort Detrick, Maryland in 1942 under the direction of George W. Merck. The biological and chemical weapons developed during that period were tested at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. Soon there were facilities for the mass production..." http://lnkd.in/dFHK9z5 View in LinkedIn