Pathogens

When a patient is ill with an unknown infection, time is of the essence. But detecting the root cause and determining the best treatment can often take a day or more. Now, start-up companies and laboratories are developing new approaches to determine rapidly which bacteria, virus, or fungus a patient is fighting, with applications that extend well beyond hospital walls. Initial efforts are focused on the health care setting where a doctor needs to know what drug to give, but potential uses include monitoring the safety of the food supply and the environment.

(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2012) In Video: Opponents of the BU Biolab voice their concerns about lab and its research of Level 3 and Level 4 pathogens. By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent Concerned residents, protesters, and politicians turned out Thursday night to voice their opposition to the Boston University Biolab in the South End, where researchers are slated to study some of the world's deadliest pathogens.

(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2012) In Video: Opponents of the BU Biolab voice their concerns about lab and its research of Level 3 and Level 4 pathogens. By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent Concerned residents, protesters, and politicians turned out Thursday night to voice their opposition to the Boston University Biolab in the South End, where researchers are slated to study some of the world's deadliest pathogens.

When a patient is ill with an unknown infection, time is of the essence. But detecting the root cause and determining the best treatment can often take a day or more. Now, start-up companies and laboratories are developing new approaches to determine rapidly which bacteria, virus, or fungus a patient is fighting, with applications that extend well beyond hospital walls. Initial efforts are focused on the health care setting where a doctor needs to know what drug to give, but potential uses include monitoring the safety of the food supply and the environment.

ST. LOUIS -- Humans are at greater risk of being infected by diseases from the animal world, according to researchers who have documented 38 illnesses that have made that jump over the past 25 years. That's not good news for efforts to curb the spread of bird flu, which scientists fear could mutate and be transmitted easily among people. There are 1,407 pathogens -- viruses, bacteria, parasites, protozoans, and fungi -- that can infect humans, said Mark Woolhouse, professor of epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Federal officials said yesterday that a national monitoring system for food-borne illness detected an increasing number of sicknesses last year from a group of rare E. coli bacteria related to the little-known and highly toxic strain that has been ravaging Germany. For the first time, the group of rare E. coli strains collectively was identified as the cause of more illnesses in the United States than the more common form of the pathogen, probably because more laboratories have begun to test for their presence, said officials at the Centers for Disease Control...

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - A panel of university and private-sector scientists has urged Congress not to overregulate laboratories that handle the world’s deadliest pathogens, saying it could have a chilling effect on research of biological threats. The 161-page report by a National Research Council committee says the best protections against deliberate misuse of deadly germs are policies promoting a culture of trust and responsibility among scientists, including peer-reporting of unusual behavior.

WASHINGTON — Researchers have a pair of new suspects in the mysterious collapse of honey bee colonies across the country. The widespread damage to the bees has caused concern because the insects are needed to pollinate scores of crops. Researchers say samples collected from hives affected by the syndrome indicated the presence of a virus as well as a fungus. The two pathogens were not found in bee colonies not affected by the syndrome, called colony collapse disorder, the researchers reported in yesterday’s edition of the journal PLoS ONE. ...

WASHINGTON -- The National Institutes of Health should be given greater authority to review proposed research that could potentially be used to create biological weapons, the National Research Council says. Currently, research supported by federal funds comes before NIH committees to determine whether it should proceed. Under a new proposal, that authority would be expanded to cover certain types of research at all US institutions, regardless of their source of funding. The goal is to minimize the potential for terrorists or hostile nations to misuse the...

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - The Army said yesterday it has suspended much of the research at its flagship biological weapons defense laboratory at Fort Detrick while it makes sure it has accounted for all of its dangerous germs and poisons. The decision follows a review of inventory controls prompted by the FBI's conclusion that Fort Detrick scientist Bruce E. Ivins was responsible for the anthrax mailings that killed five people and sickened 17 others in 2001. Ivins killed himself in July after learning he would be charged in the attacks.

Federal officials said yesterday that a national monitoring system for food-borne illness detected an increasing number of sicknesses last year from a group of rare E. coli bacteria related to the little-known and highly toxic strain that has been ravaging Germany. For the first time, the group of rare E. coli strains collectively was identified as the cause of more illnesses in the United States than the more common form of the pathogen, probably because more laboratories have begun to test for their presence, said officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta,...

WASHINGTON — Researchers have a pair of new suspects in the mysterious collapse of honey bee colonies across the country. The widespread damage to the bees has caused concern because the insects are needed to pollinate scores of crops. Researchers say samples collected from hives affected by the syndrome indicated the presence of a virus as well as a fungus. The two pathogens were not found in bee colonies not affected by the syndrome, called colony collapse disorder, the researchers reported in yesterday’s edition of the journal PLoS ONE. “We truly...

HAGERSTOWN, Md. - A panel of university and private-sector scientists has urged Congress not to overregulate laboratories that handle the world’s deadliest pathogens, saying it could have a chilling effect on research of biological threats. The 161-page report by a National Research Council committee says the best protections against deliberate misuse of deadly germs are policies promoting a culture of trust and responsibility among scientists, including peer-reporting of unusual behavior.

ST. LOUIS -- Humans are at greater risk of being infected by diseases from the animal world, according to researchers who have documented 38 illnesses that have made that jump over the past 25 years. That's not good news for efforts to curb the spread of bird flu, which scientists fear could mutate and be transmitted easily among people. There are 1,407 pathogens -- viruses, bacteria, parasites, protozoans, and fungi -- that can infect humans, said Mark Woolhouse, professor of epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

WASHINGTON -- The National Institutes of Health should be given greater authority to review proposed research that could potentially be used to create biological weapons, the National Research Council says. Currently, research supported by federal funds comes before NIH committees to determine whether it should proceed. Under a new proposal, that authority would be expanded to cover certain types of research at all US institutions, regardless of their source of funding. The goal is to minimize the potential for terrorists or hostile nations to misuse the research,...

As a graduate student at Harvard University, Omar Ali built a prototype of a cancer vaccine — a spongelike plastic implant that could train the body’s immune system to attack a tumor. The vaccine prevented mice from developing melanoma, and Ali was excited about the potential it could work in human cancer patients. Ali continued working on the project as a post-doctoral researcher and got more exciting results, but saw no clear path to push his idea to the next step. So the bioengineer went to work at a start-up company, where he thought he would have a better chance of using his...

EASTPORT, Maine - It's feeding time in the salmon cage at Cobscook Bay's Broad Cove and the 25,000 fish are hungry. The twice-daily dinner arrives on a barge loaded with 80 tons of feed pellets. From his control console, the operator maneuvers a 3-inch plastic pipe to deliver the feed. In a matter of minutes, an underwater camera shows that the salmon have satisfied their hunger, as evidenced by a sprinkle of feed that draws no takers. At that point, the operator turns off the feeder, to avoid pollution and wasting food.