The molecularisation of security: medical countermeasure development and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), 2006-2015

How do advances in our varied understandings of biological life processes shape and influence contemporary security practices? Through an in-depth analysis of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), this thesis argues that security practices in the United States have undergone a process of molecularisation over the past two decades. Specifically, the thesis shows that: 1) a new molecular vision of life has emerged that operates beyond the parameters of biopolitics outlined by Foucault; 2) that this molecular conception of life is generating new notions of insecurity in the form of heightened concern with the threat of bioterrorism; and 3) that this shift in perceptions is also inciting the development of new molecular-based security technologies in the form of medical countermeasures. BARDA is the institution at the centre of government efforts in the United States to support companies in the development of medical countermeasures that aim to mitigate a bioterrorist attack. Such support is necessary as development is beset by the 'valley of death', the financial desert between preclinical research & development and procurement. Through financial and technical means BARDA facilitates the production of medical countermeasures through this valley. This support allows companies to take advantage of our ability to visualise and manipulate life at the molecular level made possible by the molecular vision of life. As this thesis demonstrates, our ability to map and manipulate DNA and visualise the bacterial structures that process DNA is essential to the development of these molecular-based security technologies. Through this exposition the way that this vision of life is driving understandings of security and insecurity in response to the threat of bioterrorism is demonstrated. In this case, our ability to visualise and manipulate life at the molecular level has characterised security in molecular terms

Additional file 3: Table S1. of Pitfalls of improperly procured adjacent non-neoplastic tissue for somatic mutation analysis using next-generation sequencing

Coverage summary of whole-exome sequencing (WES). (XLSX 12 kb

Additional file 4: Table S2. of Pitfalls of improperly procured adjacent non-neoplastic tissue for somatic mutation analysis using next-generation sequencing

Detailed information of all somatic mutations identified by WES, including coverage, variant allele fraction (VAF) and the predicted amino acid changes. (XLSX 19 kb

Additional file 2: Figure S1. of Frequency of breast cancer subtypes among African American women in the AMBER consortium

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve in 250 HER2-negative luminal cases (A) and 309 luminal cases (B) regardless of HER2 status, using Ki67 expression to identify PAM50-based luminal B cases. A Ki67 threshold of 7.6% among HER2-negative luminal cases (A) and 7.1% among all luminal cases (B) maximized sensitivity and specificity for identifying PAM50-based luminal B tumors. AUC, area under the curve. (DOCX 43 kb

Additional file 4: Figure S2. of Frequency of breast cancer subtypes among African American women in the AMBER consortium

Kernel density plots showing the distribution of Ki67 and PR expression (A and B, respectively) in PAM50-defined luminal A (n = 159) and luminal B (n = 91) subtypes. Analyses were restricted to IHC-based HER2-negative tumors. Vertical lines indicate an 8% threshold for Ki67 (A) and a 20% threshold for PR (B). (DOCX 56 kb

Additional file 1: of Frequency of breast cancer subtypes among African American women in the AMBER consortium

Supplementary methods. (DOCX 15 kb

Additional file 5: Table S2. of Frequency of breast cancer subtypes among African American women in the AMBER consortium

Effect of raising the Ki67 threshold on the performance of the IHC-based luminal classification scheme. (DOCX 12 kb

Additional file 3: Table S1. of Frequency of breast cancer subtypes among African American women in the AMBER consortium

Classification of luminal breast cancer cases using data from medical records in the AMBER consortium. (DOCX 12 kb

Legislative Documents

Also, variously referred to as: House bills; House documents; House legislative documents; legislative documents; General Court documents

Additional file 4: of Predicting response to checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma beyond PD-L1 and mutational burden

Figure S3. Gene expression and survival. (TIFF 33984 kb