Avian flu news from FierceBioResearcher

A case of human-to-human transmission of bird flu has been confirmed in China, but authorities say it is another instance where the spread of the disease has been limited to a close blood relative. Read more...

Japanese researchers have developed a new approach to make flu vaccines that are able to combat multiple strains of influenza, including strains of the bird flu virus, according to Japan's National Read more...

Scientists at MIT are reporting that the shape of structures in the avian flu virus closely match sugars found in the respiratory tracts of birds. That key link has helped spread bird flu among Read more...

Before the 2001 anthrax attacks, the U.S. had only two biosafety level 4 (BSL4) labs, which conduct Read more...

Researchers at Texas A&M University are participating in developing a treatment for influenza that forms a jelly when sprayed into the nose. Even though trial treatments are being used to treat Read more...

A collaboration between the Scripps Research Institute and IBM to find new antidotes to flu before new mutations surface is making some initial progress. Dubbed Project Checkmate, scientists are Read more...

About a dozen different states are competing to host a new, $450 million government BioDefense research lab that will employ about 300 researchers working on avian flu, anthrax, bird flu and more. Officials are expected to whittle down the prospective sites under review this summer as various groups show off their local scientific expertise. States most interested include Texas, California, Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma, …

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A scientific team at Taiwan's Vaccine Research and Development Centre spent 13 months and $1.2 million to develop a new, cell-based vaccine to target avian flu. One of the scientists said this was the first time that researchers used dog kidney cells in vaccine work. Baxter Vaccines, for example, has used green monkey kidney cells in its cell-based vaccine work. The researchers in Taiwan are building a pilot vaccine plant that will be ready by the end of the year and human clinical trials …

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The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will spend $23 million a year over the next seven years to establish a consortium of six research centers to investigate influenza viruses--including H5N1. The goal is to help government officials respond to seasonal flu as well as potential outbreaks of pandemics.

"There are a variety of viruses to monitor besides the well-known H5N1," St. Jude researcher Robert Webster said. "For example, H7N7 infected chicken industry …

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SPOTLIGHT

Members of the Russian Academy of Science say that the government hopes to push through new rules that will give officials control over its activities and facilities. The academy has traditionally been free of government control over most of its 300 hundred year history. Academic research will become subservient to the government's desires, critics say, while transferring control over an expensive portfolio of property to officials as well. …

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