Five consecutive years of flat funding the budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is deterring promising young researchers and threatening the future of U.S. health, a group of seven preeminent academic research institutions warn full story

Professor Nestle on food safety in a globalized economy, the threat of bioterrorism, government regulation of the industry, and genetic modification full story

More and more drugs are imported by U.S. drug makers from China, then re-labeled and sold in the United States; even when the drugs are made in the United States, more and U.S. drug makers purchase the drug ingredients in China; trouble is, the FDA does not have the resources to inspect these Chinese manufacturers to see whether they adhere to U.S. safety standards; the result: U.S. consumers become ill and die full story

Advnt Biotechnology is the leading manufacturer of highly accurate rapid, Hand-Held Assays for the detection of biothreat agents such as anthrax, ricin, botulinum, Seb and Plague. Successfully deployed around the world in a variety of applications. Our products are the most sought after HHA’s on the market today! ProStrips Five™, 5 tests in 1, BADD™ Our single analyte kits and ATTAK™, the perfect training tool. www.advnt.org 888-223-3269

Agilent Technologies Inc. is the world’s premier measurement company and a technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. With more than 35 years of cutting-edge analysis expertise, Agilent has consistently established the state-of-the-art for measurement technologies and platform solutions. Our core technologies for the detection, identification and characterization of chemical and biological agents span liquid and gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, microfluidics, microarrays, reagents chemistry, automated nucleic acid sample preparation and PCR, and bioinformatics and software development. Applications range from forensics and attribution to environmental monitoring to pharmaceuticals to food safety. For more information see our website: www.agilent.com

About $72 billion in drugs and active ingredients were imported into the U.S. in 2006; the FDA that year spent a mere $12.75 million inspecting foreign production plants; between 3,250 and 6,800 non-U.S. plants export drugs and drug ingredients to the U.S. (the FDA's two main databases each gives a different figure), and are thus subject to FDA inspection; in the last five years the agency has conducted only 1,445 foreign inspections; main reason: In the face of growing drug and food imports, the Bush administration steadily cut the agency's budget and resources since 2001 full story

Science writer says that the worry about man-made pathogens (or "designer" pathogens) is misplaced; preoccupation with artificial germs has led the government to de-emphasize "one-bug-one-drug" strategy in favor of "broad spectrum technology" aiming to boost the body's innate, or general, immunity; experts question wisdom of strategy full story

The number of people vaccinated is vastly lower than President Bush projected, but public health experts say that there are enough healthcare workers inoculated to respond to an outbreak and enough vaccine on hand to get more protected, along with anyone else exposed to the disease full story

ICx Technologies is a leader in the development and integration of advanced sensor technologies for homeland security, force protection and commercial applications. Our proprietary sensors detect and identify chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats, and deliver superior awareness and actionable intelligence for wide-area surveillance, intrusion detection and facility security. By leveraging our unparalleled technical expertise, ICx pioneers the integration of these advanced sensors into effective security and commercial solutions.

Innovative Biosensors, Inc. (IBI) - An integrated biological aerosol collector and identification system is now available for rapid, sensitive detection and identification of biological threat agents. This system integrates biological aerosol sample collection and concentration functions and a novel cellular based bioluminescent immunoassay method for cost effective, near real-time biological detection and identification. Incorporated into a sophisticated \integrated CBRNE protection system.

Decline and fall: In FY 1981, FSIS spent $13.22 per thousand pounds of meat and poultry inspected and passed; by FY 2007, the figure had fallen to $8.26 per thousand pounds; in FY 1981 FSIS employed about 190 workers per billion pounds of meat and poultry inspected and passed; by FY 2007, FSIS employed fewer than 88 workers per billion pounds full story

The annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology is being held in Seattle this week; among the major topics: Pharmaceuticals contaminating the U.S. water supply; 7,000 scientists and regulators from 45 countries attend full story

Rutgers researchers offer new insights into how plant toxin ricin kills cells; insights could help scientists develop drugs to counteract poisonings, reducing the threat of ricin as a bioterror weapon full story

Microfluidic Systems (MFSI) is funded by the Department of Homeland Security to provide the next generation of airborne pathogen detection systems: fully autonomous, networked, environmentally-controlled for extreme outdoor and indoor use, expandable to cover detection and specific identification of many organisms and toxins, and will be flexible to meet varying levels of operational security requirements. This is called the Microfluidic Bioagent Autonomous Networked Detector (M-BAND). The technologies in the MFSI system are state-of-the-art methodologies currently used in the Biowatch program. The MFSI M-BAND fully automates airborne detection using these methodologies, lowers the operating costs, and provides for great expansion of the coverage.

NPC, a leader in providing reliable electronic and printed document services for business and government, can tailor a solution that enables our customers to authenticate and protect their mission critical documents. NPC uses effective security products and technologies, including a suite of AuthentiGuard® technologies. From the paper to the printing of security technologies on the paper, our solutions protect your documents from the growing threat posed by counterfeiting and fraud and provide authentication features to test for authenticity. Adding security features to your documents is a valuable step towards protecting your organization from the high costs of damages, theft, lost revenue, and brand erosion.

A new device, based on the old-fashioned mechanical air-pump technology, destroys airborne pathogens by rapidly heating contaminated air under pressure and mechanically compressing it full story

MIT lab develops an advanced sensor for airborne pathogen; current sensors take at least twenty minutes to detect harmful bacteria or viruses in the air, but the PANTHER sensors can perform detection and identification in less than three minutes full story

PILR Technology Services in cooperation with key industry leaders has developed NBi, a lot tracking and inventory management solution, designed to address the increasing federally mandated requirements and growing needs for operational efficiencies. Utilizing state of the art software design and real-time data capture, NBi can monitor inventory quantities and easily trace all products by lot number while reducing shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing errors. NBi can interface with any database driven software for infrastructure integration. NBi can be implemented via desktop, wireless tablet or Handheld PC. To find out more, please visit or informational website at: www.pilrtech.com/nbireview.aspx

Universal Detection Technology (UDTT) is a provider of detection technologies for terrorism with weapons of mass destruction. UDTT has licensed a spore detection technology from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and has developed a real-time continuous detection device capable of identifying abnormal levels of airborne bacterial spores, such as anthrax. UDTT also supplies radiation detection systems and detection kits capable of rapid on-site detection of anthrax, ricin, botulinum, plague, and SEBs all on one kit.