Anthrax toxin

In the early days of research, 23 cases of cutaneous anthrax occurred between 1944 and 1945. Because of this, procedures were improved drastically, along with laboratory guidelines. Biosafety cabinets, or BSC’s, were introduced into laboratories and the instances of exposure went down to only two cases between…

Bacteriology discovered the specific agents that connected animal and humans diseases. This took a while to uncover because contaminated animal food was stealthily brought into consumption. Sick animals were treated with preservatives, which produced toxins that harmed the human system without any obvious change to the taste and texture of the product. Benjamin Richardson, public health campaigner, drew attention to these dangers which gave George Buchanan, Chief Medical Officer, the impetus to…

How did reputation spur the Japanese cult, Aum Shinrikyo, also known as Aum, to use violence and how did they utilize said violence to create a new reputation? An act of domestic terror in 1995, and several smaller scale terroristic acts committed in the early 90s, is the kind of violence used by this cult to change and build a new reputation for themselves. After trying to gain political legitimacy, and failing, cult leader Shoko Asahara turned to building up his credibility and reputation by…

The anti-vaccine movement claims this is a source of conflict because of the large salary she now gets at Merck. Gerberding did have an impressive career when she managed the CDC. She handled many public health crises while in office, including the anthrax attacks in 2001, avian influenza and the global outbreak of SARS. She is deemed as an authority on public health and vaccines, so her merits made her the top candidate for a top position at Merck. The anti-vaccination movement would still…

performed the world’s first vaccination in 1796, created to protect the world against smallpox. By inoculating people with substances from a cowpox lesion, he was able to create immunity to smallpox all over the world. Vaccines and antitoxins against anthrax, diphtheria, plague, tuberculosis, and more were developed over the 1930s. Over the next 200 years, procedures for developing viruses in the laboratory underwent medical and technological changes, which led to fast detections and…

neglected. It is unethical and unnecessary. We continue to ignore it, so it continues to occur. Some may believe that animal testing is cruel and inhumane. Animals suffer just like humans, whether it is caused by pain or stress. There are many harmful toxins and ingredients in the testing materials that they use that can cause harm to animals. Even though the researchers try to minimize the pain, they aren’t able to completely prevent pain from occurring. Animals are not capable of making…

Organic Agriculture ≠ Better: For You or the Environment Picture a world with widespread famine and polluted water. Small withered plants surrounded by weeds and pests trying to grow out of nitrogen deficient soil reeking of animal fecal matter. You seek to find the forest of your youth, that you used to play in, but it is no longer there. Instead you see only more malnourished farmland. One out of every five people are dying of hunger. You go to take a drink of water, to find it has to be…

tested before being presented to the FDA? In many cases, these products go through various test on beings that are similar to humans, animals. These animals are subjected to test that applies certain levels of chemicals on the skin, injects them with toxins, exposes them to radiation that alters DNA codes, and numerous other test to advance research for the betterment of human life. Yet, from these actions, another question arises. Do we as humans, have the right to subject these creatures to…

I. Introduction From World War I to shortly after World War II, the Western world created numerous significant treaties and agreements including the Treaty of Versailles, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, otherwise known as the Geneva Protocol. However, the Geneva Protocol is one of the most comprehensive and arguably successful agreements to come from the time…

As defined by the Rand Corporation (3), agroterrorism is “the deliberate introduction of a disease agent, either against livestock or into the food chain, for the purposes of undermining socioeconomic stability and/or generating fear. Depending on the disease agent and pathogenic vector chosen, agroterrorism is a tactic that can be used either to cause mass socioeconomic disruption or as a form of direct human aggression”. The Department of Homeland Security defines agricultural bioterrorism as…