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New finding points way to foiling anthrax's tricks

“University of California, Berkeley, chemists have discovered a trick that anthrax bacteria use to make an end run around the body's defenses, but which may turn out to be their Achilles' heel. The UC Berkeley scientists, working with colleagues at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, uncovered the trick while studying how these deadly bacteria steal iron from their human hosts to grow and reproduce. Anthrax bacteria are known to produce two small molecules - bacillibactin and petrobactin - that snatch iron away from the human body's iron transporter molecules, called transferrin. These scavengers, or ‘siderophores,’ are essential to anthrax's ability to grow rapidly, especially after the spores are inhaled, though why the bacteria need two siderophores to do the job has been an enigma. The new study shows why anthrax bacteria require two siderophores working by two different mechanisms... [The] UC Berkeley team and the Seattle team are now exploring how their discovery could be used to diagnose or treat anthrax. The researchers published their findings Nov. 28 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Their paper will appear in the Dec. 5 print edition.”
(Media-Newswire, 30Nov06)
http://media-newswire.com/release_1039850.html

Study Warns of 'Grave and Growing' Threat of Biological Weapons

Study Warns of 'Grave and Growing' Threat of Biological Weapons

“The Center for Strategic and International Studies released Wednesday the findings of its survey addressing the future use of biological weapons.” Since mid-October, the center polled about 340 current executive branch officials and members of Congress, as well as former senior government officials and nongovernmental experts, on how they perceived the threat of bioweapons. Only about 50 of those polled responded to the survey. However, the center's Senior Fellow Amy Smithson who designed the survey, says that overall, biological weapons are seen as a grave and growing threat, even compared to chemical and nuclear weapons. "Biological weapons are the most insidious, the most serious threat because they're cheap, they come from nature and the release scenario can be as simple as the subway," he said... According to the study, the best way to address the threat is through international safety measures as opposed to efforts by individual states.” (Voice of America; 29Nov06; Sean Maroney) http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-11-29-voa63.cfm