H5N1 virus

Nearly 50 million birds have been culled amid efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus, which continues to ravage the Northern Hemisphere.

After a string of breaches involving anthrax, Ebola, and bird flu, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reportedly replaced the director of its Division of Select Agents and Toxins.

Two studies point to the possibility that a single vaccine could protect against every strain of flu virus.

In the wake of a handful of biosafety lapses at federal research facilities, the US government is temporarily halting funding for new studies aiming to give novel functions to influenza, SARS, and MERS viruses.

The US government releases its policy on so-called dual-use research involving dangerous pathogens that could be used for biological terrorist attacks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist who accidentally leaked H5N1 into a benign strain of avian influenza may have been rushing off to a meeting.

A person in Canada has died of the first confirmed human case of H5N1 avian flu in North America.

A group of scientists has called on the European Commission to evaluate the risks and benefits of research that could make deadly viruses more transmissible.

The US Food and Drug Administration OKs a vaccine against the virus that last year had the scientific community debating the regulation of deadly pathogen research.

The Dutch scientist who mutated a strain of the avian flu virus to be transmissible between mammals is headed to appeals court to protect his right to publish the work unimpeded.

Researchers develop a new “molecular biocontainment” strategy for safely studying deadly flu viruses.

Flu researchers propose H7N9 studies; NIH makes deal to share HeLa genome; herbal “remedies” can cause cancer; scientists record grid cell activity in humans

The US government has come out with new rules for life science research deemed risky.

The National Institutes of Health reveals a controversial plan to regulate the funding of H5N1 research.

New PCR assay can detect more than 40 strains of H5N1 in a single go.

A US science official recommends extending moratorium on bird flu studies as well as other types of risky research.

The NIH agrees with the government advisory board’s recommendation to publish both controversial bird flu studies in full.

Science adviser John Holdren speaks out about how the Presidential Administration is handling the controversial research that rendered avian flu transmissible between ferrets.

A member of the NSABB biosecurity board that recently reviewed H5N1 data criticizes the process.