Category: Health & Safety
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Appeals court backs scientist in Pfizer retaliation case
Note: Microbiologist Becky McClain, infected by a genetically engineered virus in a Pfizer lab, became the first whistleblower in the nation to try to shed light on the threats of biotechnology to workers and the public. Now, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, has validated her claims that Pfizer “acted willfully, […]
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Berkeley Fire douses 2-alarm blaze at Potter Street lab
Note: We post this article about a fire at a biolab in West Berkeley because it serves as a reminder of the fallibility of human engineering. While such labs may be considered safe under ‘normal’ conditions, normal conditions are increasingly rare in this, the Age of Disasters. — Synbiowatch Cross-posted from Berkeleyside Berkeley firefighters put out […]
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Hacking the President’s DNA
Cross-posted from The Atlantic The U.S. government is surreptitiously collecting the DNA of world leaders, and is reportedly protecting that of Barack Obama. Decoded, these genetic blueprints could provide compromising information. In the not-too-distant future, they may provide something more as well—the basis for the creation of personalized bioweapons that could take down a president […]
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Build a Mars base with a box of engineered bugs
By Andy Coghlan, cross-posted from New Scientist THE next time humans set foot on an alien world, they may not travel alone. Small, lightweight “bug boxes” packed full of engineered microbes could make life on hostile planets a lot more liveable. Pioneering settlers on a distant world will require food, fuel and shelter if they […]
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UN: ‘More should be done’ to prevent bio-terrorism
Cross-posted from the BBC By Katia Moskvitch Technology reporter, BBC News, Cambridge A UN official delivered the warning at the BioDesign Forum on synthetic biology being held in the UK. Piers Millet from the UN’s Biological Weapons Convention said there was no global organisation to ensure biotech was not used for “nefarious” purposes. But international bodies did […]
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Pentagon behind on predicting chemical, biological threats
By Kevin Baron Monday, September 24, 2012 Share Cross-posted from Foreign Policy The Pentagon does not have a clear idea of how adversaries could misuse modern biotechnology and chemical advances, according to the Defense Department’s chief chemical and biological defense official. It turns out the Pentagon can move people faster than the speed of sound but not […]
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Weird Science: The Promise and Peril of Synthetic Biology
By Jeff Conant, from Earth Island Journal, Autumn, 2012 In 1971, a microbiologist named Ananda Chakrabarty patented a bacteria genetically engineered to degrade and destroy crude oil. The next year scientists created the first synthesized gene, a bit of yeast RNA ushered into existence virtually from scratch. These discoveries, among others, raised the curtain on the science of […]
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Video: The Bay Area Bio Lab & Synthetic Biology, False Solutions
A Risky Development: The University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and the US Department of Energy have unveiled plans to build a high profile biotech laboratory in the East Bay. The lab and associated commercial activity will focus on developing biofuels and other products using synthetic biology: an extreme form of genetic engineering that […]
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Report: Worker Safety in Biological Laboratories
Council for Responsible Genetics Report on Worker Safety in Biological Laboratories (published Sept. 2010) [ DOWNLOAD PDF REPORT HERE ]
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Health And Safety Threatened At Pfizer: Stop Injuring Biotech Workers
On September 29, 2011 injured workers including former Pfizer injured molecular biologist bitotech scientist Becky McClain held a rally for justice outside the Groton, CT laboratories where she was contaminated. Speakers including McClain discussed the issues that are faced in this industry and the lack of proper oversight and protection for the workers and the […]