Francisella tularensis
Is my MySpace friend!
That is so awesome. F. tularensis was one of those bugs we didn't cover. Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pyogenes were more important. But I'm honored to be invited to be a friend of tularensis, one of four NIAID Category A Priority Pathogenic Bacteria, meaning that it is being researched as a bioterrorist weapon, and is being studied for "biodefense" purpose.
As my professor once said, "What was it they say? 'The best defense is a good offense.' Well, that's true in this case." That about sums up the goal of the United States bioterrorism.
If it's any consolation for those of you anti-war activists, the Soviet Union researched anthrax and was careless enough to release it in aerosolized version. Of 79 cases of anthrax infection reported, 68 were fatal; it took months of latency period as a spore before they caused disease. This makes making antibiotics rather difficult, since antibiotics don't work on spores. We would need to wait for the anthrax to germinate; that would be too late.
Bioterrorism is so dangerous that if you had 100 kg of anthrax released in Washington DC, the death range could be between 130,000 to 3 million, equivalent to a hydrogen bomb. It may sound awful, but the government is pouring billions of dollars into this type of research. There's a lot of money for doing a lot of things. The only problem is, you could be put in jail for making even a minor mistake. The stance is basically, "We will give you a lot of money, but we will make you miserable at the same time."
What your tax dollars are going to, researching the four horsemen of pathogens that are bacteria and classified category A: Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium botulinum, Yersinia pestis, and Francisella tularensis.
That is so awesome. F. tularensis was one of those bugs we didn't cover. Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pyogenes were more important. But I'm honored to be invited to be a friend of tularensis, one of four NIAID Category A Priority Pathogenic Bacteria, meaning that it is being researched as a bioterrorist weapon, and is being studied for "biodefense" purpose.
As my professor once said, "What was it they say? 'The best defense is a good offense.' Well, that's true in this case." That about sums up the goal of the United States bioterrorism.
If it's any consolation for those of you anti-war activists, the Soviet Union researched anthrax and was careless enough to release it in aerosolized version. Of 79 cases of anthrax infection reported, 68 were fatal; it took months of latency period as a spore before they caused disease. This makes making antibiotics rather difficult, since antibiotics don't work on spores. We would need to wait for the anthrax to germinate; that would be too late.
Bioterrorism is so dangerous that if you had 100 kg of anthrax released in Washington DC, the death range could be between 130,000 to 3 million, equivalent to a hydrogen bomb. It may sound awful, but the government is pouring billions of dollars into this type of research. There's a lot of money for doing a lot of things. The only problem is, you could be put in jail for making even a minor mistake. The stance is basically, "We will give you a lot of money, but we will make you miserable at the same time."
What your tax dollars are going to, researching the four horsemen of pathogens that are bacteria and classified category A: Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium botulinum, Yersinia pestis, and Francisella tularensis.
Labels: science
posted by Alan at June 10, 2006
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