Ricin vaccine 'shown to be safe' Nov 11, 2009
Ricin vaccine 'shown to be safe. Kamel Bourgass was convicted of plotting to use ricin in the UK ... A vaccine against the deadly toxin ricin is safe and effective, a US study has shown. (BBC News -- Science)
Q&A: What is ricin? Nov 11, 2009
A suspected al-Qaeda operative has been convicted of plotting to spread ricin and other poisons in Britain. The BBC News website examines the deadly potential of ricin ... Ricin is a toxic material which can be fatal when inhaled, ingested or - most dangerously - injected. (BBC News -- Science)
Detectives pursue Markov killer Nov 11, 2009
2mg dose of the lethal poison ricin. Mr Markov, who as a playwright and satirist had broadcast scathing accounts of communist high life to Bulgaria, had been the subject of two failed assassination attempts before he was finally killed. (BBC News -- Science)
Ricin 'antidote' to be produced Nov 11, 2009
Ricin is a natural toxin found in castor beans ... An anti-toxin that protects against ricin poisoning is to move into production for the first time ... Security experts say ricin - roughly 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide - could be used in a bio-terror attack. (BBC News -- UK)
Panel: Overzealous Rules May Stifle Germ Research Oct 2, 2009
The panel recommended that security enhancements focus on the people and labs that work with the fewer than 10 agents that can be weaponized _ including anthrax, plague bacteria, and the ricin and botulism toxins. One such measure, the committee said, should be a rule that "no one works alone." It would require a second person to be in regular, scheduled voice or video contact with someone working with a pathogen, although not necessarily in the same lab. (Newsmax)
Scientists urge Congress not to overregulate biolabs Oct 1, 2009
The panel recommended that security enhancements focus on the people and labs that work with the fewer than 10 agents that can be weaponized - including anthrax, plague bacteria, and the ricin and botulism toxins. Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company. (Boston Globe)
Panel: Self-policing best defense against insider bioterrorism attacks Oct 1, 2009
Some 80 "select agents", microbes and toxins ranging from ricin to plague, require registration with federal authorities. Security Risk Assessment screening checks more than 20 criminal, immigration, and terrorist databases to qualify researchers and is appropriate, the panel says. (USA Today -- Tech)
New Method Aims To Stabilize Antibodies Sep 15, 2009
"They could be used to combat diseases like cancer. They can also be used as the basis for biosensors that can continuously detect for pathogens like botulinum, ricin and anthrax in places such as airports and subway stations locations where it is not currently possible to provide ongoing detection of pathogens because antibodies cannot tolerate the environmental conditions.". Argonne has provided funding toward Stevens' research. (Science Daily)
UPMC wants to make vaccines Aug 22, 2009
The 21CB would operated as a not-for-profit facility under HHS supervision, and could produce vaccines for anthrax, smallpox, the plague, ricin contamination and the Ebola virus, among other threatening infections. Under a previous government contract, UPMC already has studied solutions to combating bioterrorism. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Green Industrial Lubricant Developed Jul 15, 2009
ScienceDaily (July 14, 2009) A team of researchers from the University of Huelva has developed an environmentally-friendly lubricating grease based on ricin oil and cellulose derivatives, according to the journal Green Chemistry ... Environmentally-friendly greases are "oleogels" that use cellulose derivatives from plants and ricin oil (from a bush in the Euphorbiaceae family) as a lubricant base ... A team of researchers has developed an environmentally-friendly lubricating grease based on... (Science Daily)
Researchers 'All Aglow' Over New Test Of Toxin Strength Jun 21, 2009
One very dangerous toxin on the list is ricin, a protein derived from castor beans that is lethal in doses as small as 500 micrograms about the size of a grain of salt ... As part of its efforts to address the threat, DHS is working with NIST to create a standardized ricin sample with a known potency ... A major step toward this goal the development of a rapid, reliable and precise assay of the potency of a ricin sample has now been achieved by NIST scientists. (Science Daily)
Pair questioned over ricin find Jun 6, 2009
The ricin may have been in the house for up to two years, police said. A father and son are being questioned by anti-terrorism officers following the discovery of the poison ricin at a house in County Durham ... The ricin, said to be 6,000 times more toxic than cyanide, will be analysed at the Porton Down government laboratory. (BBC News -- UK)
Deadly Ricin Found In Home , Police Called To Report of Domestic Violence Jun 5, 2009
-- Police called to a house in Everett because of a domestic dispute wound up searching the home for ricin, a deadly toxin ... Ricin, which is extracted from castor beans, is illegal to possess or manufacture, KIRO 7 reported. (KIRO TV, WA)
Plant To Destroy Nerve Gas Opens In Russia May 29, 2009
Get more info on everything from ricin to smallpox to VX gas. Fast Facts. (CBS News -- Evening News)
Deadly Ricin Scare Replayed Apr 28, 2009
A deadly ricin scare last year that shut an entire Las Vegas motel complex down could have been worse if it wasn't for technology ... Metro Detectives Rick Breeden and Doug Huffmaster returned to the very motel room that led to a ricin panic ... Also in the room, detectives found illegal gun silencers, a cash of weapons, and anarchist books opened to pages on how to make ricin. (KLAS-TV.com, NV)
Bioterrorism: Fast And Sensitive Way To Detect Ricin Apr 14, 2009
13, 2009) Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have developed a simple, accurate, and highly sensitive test to detect and quantify ricin, an extremely potent toxin with potential use as a bioterrorism agent ... D.Ricin, a protein extracted from castor beans, can be in the form of a powder, mist, pellet or solution ... When injected or inhaled, as little as one-half milligram of ricin is lethal to humans. (Science Daily)
American Chemical Society Weekly PressPac -- April 8, 2009 Apr 13, 2009
ARTICLE #2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Long-awaited new tests for detecting the bioterrorism agent ricin Analytical Chemistry. In a development that could help safeguard people against potential acts of terrorism involving ricin, two groups of scientists in Georgia and New York are reporting the development of faster, more sensitive tests for detecting the deadly poison ... Reports on the tests the most sensitive to date for detecting ricin appear in ACS' Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly... (EurekAlert!)
Universal Detection Technology Announces GSA Contract Award for Bioterrorism Detection and Radiological Detection Equipment Apr 8, 2009
Universal Detection's products are listed on GSA Schedule GS-07F-0106V for equipment used in the detection of biological weapons such as anthrax, ricin, botulinum, and plague as well as Radiation Detection Equipment ... Ricin Detection Kits (Handheld). (Primezone Releases)
Universal Detection Technology Receives Order for Anthrax and Ricin Detection Equipment From Dubai-Based Firm Apr 2, 2009
LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Universal Detection Technology () (OTC BB: - ) (Frankfurt: - ), a developer of early-warning monitoring technologies to protect people from bioterrorism and other infectious health threats and provider of counter-terrorism consulting and training services, reported today that it has received an order for its anthrax and ricin detection equipment from Dubai-based firm, PLT Trading ... UNDT's anthrax and ricin detection equipment has been extensively... (Primezone Releases)
Universal Detection Technology Received Purchase Order for Bioterrorism Detection Equipment and Training Kits From the Miami-Dade Police Department Mar 13, 2009
The Equipment is capable of spot detection of anthrax, ricin toxin, botulinum toxin, plague, and SEBs. The purchase order also includes kits that mimic a ``suspicious powder'' scenario thus preparing the first responders for a real world event. (Primezone Releases)
Many natural products make dubious claims Feb 19, 2009
"Cyanide is produced naturally. Ricin is produced naturally but I wouldn't want them to flavor my drink," Molloy pointed out. Click for related content. (MSNBC -- Health)
