Biosecurity: A 21st Century Challenge

Based on a review of key reports and experts' opinions, summarizes the debate over "dual-use" technologies and the various approaches to controlling biosecurity risk. Outlines proposed preventive measures and steps to build response capacity

SARS-CoV-2 Reveals that Chimeric Agents are the Bioweapons of the Future

Bioweapons programs have existed since their development during the Cold War. These biowarfare programs initially utilized naturally occurring pathogens capable of infecting crops, livestock populations, and human populations. Anthrax is a widely exploited bioagent responsible for attacks ranging from the Germans’ deployment in World War I to the mailing of anthrax through the postal service in attempts on U.S. senators’ lives. With the development of genetic manipulations, the Soviet Union began modifying anthrax to resist detection and treatment. With the continued advancement of science and technology, a new bioagent has entered the scene – the man-made chimeric virus. Chimeric viruses typically only infect a certain species, however with genetic alteration they develop characteristics required to infect other species. SARS-CoV-2 and its apparent genetic changes could prove a prime example of how a bat virus underwent genetic mutations that allow it to infect humans. Ultimately, SARS-CoV-2 reveals how chimeric viruses are the bioweapons of the future

Responding to Future Pandemics: Biosecurity Implications and Defense Considerations

In an evolving and expanding biothreat landscape caused by emerging biotechnologies, increases in global infectious disease outbreaks, and geopolitical instability, the Department of Defense now faces challenges that alter its traditional approach to biothreats and prompt the need for modernized, improved preparedness for—and response to—potential biothreat scenarios. These challenges further complicate specific weaknesses revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Department’s inability to sustain the military mission while meeting intragovernmental expectations to assist with civilian public health resources and services

Lassa fever: The politics of an emerging disease and the scope for One Health

One of a series of seven working papers considering the political economy of One Health.This paper explores the politics of knowledge and disease control for Lassa fever, a zoonotic viral haemorrhagic fever which is endemic in parts of West Africa. The Lassa virus has been classified as a Category A pathogen, meaning it is considered to be one of the world’s most dangerous organisms and a potential bioweapon. Unusually for a Category A pathogen it also causes endemic human disease with public health implications. As a rodent-borne virus, Lassa fever is of interest to One Health. The interplay between security, public health and One Health perspectives are explored in Kenema, Sierra Leone, a long-term treatment and research hub. Running through policy processes are institutionalised responses to uncertainty which have privileged certain types of evidence leading to significant gains in laboratory and technology-based interventions. In securitisation debates public health priorities are often judged to be undermined. However this case shows that animal, human and environment interactions, and their socio-economic dynamics, have been marginalised on both national and international levels by political economies of knowledge and policy which tend to overlook the needs and perspectives of poor and rural populations.Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA

The Role of Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology in Appearing and Managing COVID-19

Introduction: Studies reveal that viruses play important roles in the origins of cellular life and the evolution of all mammals for example. COVID-19 as a modified brutal virus has affected daily life and is slowing down the global economy.  The main purpose of the current study stems from the question that how COVID-19 was created and how it will be solved. Method: In order to conduct the present research, 26 English articles were chosen from among 57 articles published from 2000 to 2020 based on their relation to viral diseases and the availability of the full text at the PubMed, Science Direct, ProQuest, and Google Scholar databases. Findings: To study the new coronavirus, its genetic sequence should be accessible for us. As understood, synthetic biology takes advantage of the knowledge obtained from systems biology analysis and the conceptual tools made for such purposes. These approaches develop systems toxicology as well as stand out in predicting and evaluating the immunogenicity of vaccines as well as improving vaccine formulations through a definite immunological marker. Conclusion and Suggestion:Dealing with viral diseases such as COVID-19 demands vast knowledge of biotechnology, cell and molecular biology expertise, and competent approaches based on bioinformatics technology that contains systems biology and synthetic biology. Therefore, such scientific fields need to be highly developed in developing countries to keep their immunity and national security under warranty encountering any biological invasion, most specifically of viral types

A proposal for the classification of biological weapons sensu lato

Due to historical and legislation reasons, the category of bioweapons is rather poorly defined. Authors often disagree on involvin g or excl uding agents like hor mones, psychochemicals, certain plants and animals (such as weeds or pests) or synthetic organisms. Applying a wide definition apparently threatens by eroding the regime of international legislation, while narrow definitions abandon se veral important issues. Therefore, I propose a category of ‘biological weapons sensu lato’ (BWsl) that is defined here as any tool of human aggression whose acting principle is based on disciplines of biology in cluding particularly microbiol ogy, epidemiolo gy, medica l biology, physiology, psychol ogy, pharmacology and ecology, but excluding those based on inorganic agents. Synthetically produced equivalents (not necessarily exact copies) a nd mock weapons are also inclu ded. This definition does not involve any claim to subject all these weapons to international legislation but serves a purely scholarly purpose. BWsl may be properly categorized on the base of the magnitude of the human population potentially targeted (4 levels: individuals, towns, countries, glo bal) and the biological nature of the weapons’ intended effects (4 levels: agricultural - ecological agents, and non - pathogenic, pathogenic, or lethal agents against humans

Highly cross-conserved burkholderia T cell epitopes generate effector T cell responses in vitro

Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei cause glanders and melioidosis, respectively. Both of them are classified as Category B biothreat agents due to their high infectivity and potential use as a bioweapon. The related species Burkholderia cepaciae causes fatal \u27cepacia syndrome\u27 in cystic fibrosis patients, which is characterized by rapid deterioration, bacteremia and necrotizing pneumonia. Clinical eradication of Burkholderia infection often fails due to antimicrobial resistance. Effective vaccination against Burkholderia infection is critically important to protect populations living in endemic areas worldwide and against bioterror threats. No vaccines or other prophylactics for these pathogens are available. Vaccines against Burkholderia should target cell-mediated immune response, which is believed to be essential to successfully clear Burkholderia infection. We hypothesize that a single vaccine comprising highly cross-conserved Burkholderia T cell epitopes might generate protective cell-mediated immune response against all the three species. Immunoinformatics tools were used to identify immunogenic consensus sequences (ICS) that are enriched for promiscuous and highly conserved CD4+ T cell epitopes in all three Burkholderia species. The ICS peptides were validated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) derived from healthy donors [1]. All of the peptides (100%) bound to at least two HLA alleles, 98% bound to at least three HLA alleles, 98% bound to at least four HLA alleles and 92% bound to all seven HLA alleles. The overall predictive accuracy was 81% (both positive and negative) [2]. Significant IFNg response was induced by all peptides in at least one human donor as measured by IFNg ELISpot assay. 86% of the peptide-specific IFNg ELISpot responses were completely inhibited by antibody block of HLA-DR, indicating that these peptides are HLA-DR-restricted. Significant peptide-specific proliferation and Th1 cytokine production (IFNg, TNFa and IL-2) in CD4+ T cells from healthy donors were observed in flow cytometry analysis. Immunoinformatics predictions, coupled with in vitro validation, can accelerate the selection of highly conserved T cell epitopes from genome sequence databases. The approach can be used for rapid selection of vaccine candidates for a wide array of emerging infectious diseases and biodefense targets. References: 1. Wullner D, Zhou L, Bramhall E, Kuck A, Goletz TJ, Swanson S, Chirmule N and Jawa V. Considerations for optimization and validation of an in vitro PBMC derived T cell assay for immunogenicity prediction of biotherapeutics. Clinical Immunology. 2010,137, 5-14. 2. De Groot AS, Ardito M, Moise L, Gustafson EA, Spero D, Tejada G and Martin W. Immunogenic Consensus Sequence T helper Epitopes for a Pan-Burkholderia Biodefense Vaccine. Immunome Res. 2011, 7(2). pii: e7

Levofloxacin Cures Experimental Pneumonic Plague in African Green Monkeys

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of bubonic plague as well as a rare severe form known as primary pneumonic plague resulting from the inhalation of contaminated aerosols. The relative ease of aerosol preparation and high virulence makes Y. pestis a dangerous bioweapon. The current study describes the treatment of established pneumonic plague with the widely available, broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotic levofloxacin in a nonhuman primate model. African green monkeys inhaled a target dose of 100 lethal doses for 50% of animals (LD50) and were monitored for fever and vital signs by telemetry. Fever was the first sign of illness, correlating with bacteremia but preceding radiographic pneumonia, and initiated intravenous levofloxacin treatment in doses designed to mimic antibiotic levels achieved in humans. All animals treated with saline died and all animals completing 10 days of treatment survived, with resolution of high fever within 24–48 hours. We conclude that levofloxacin may be an appropriate broad-spectrum antibiotic for presumptive therapy in an aerosolized bioweapons attack and should be studied for treatment of bubonic plague

The benefits, risks, and threats of biotechnology

Published version reproduced with the permission of the publisher.This article considers how threats, risks, and benefits associated with research are defined in contemporary policy debates. Specifically, it examines what has become known as the ‘dual-use potential’ of life science research findings and techniques. Focus is given to the emerging dominant policy response of enacting oversight processes to weigh the risks and benefits of individual instances of research. The curiosity at the center of this article is how it is often said that any knowledge might be used for destructive ends but, in practice, it has been extremely rare that anything has even been identified as ‘of concern’. This situation raises basic questions about the purposes and prospects of oversight procedures. Various proposals are advanced in reply. These include better understanding how notions of the utility of research are constructed, searching for improved methods for assessing risks and benefits, attending to factors that might affect risk–benefit calculations, pursuing alternative questions and challenging fundamental tenants in policy discussions

Model Systems to Study Plague Pathogenesis and Develop New Therapeutics

The Gram negative bacterium Yersinia pestis can infect humans by multiple routes to cause plague. Three plague pandemics have occurred and Y. pestis has been linked to biowarfare in the past. The continued risk of plague as a bioweapon has prompted increased research to understand Y. pestis pathogenesis and develop new plague therapeutics. Several in vivo models have been developed for this research and are reviewed here