Biosecurity News and Research

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Biosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases, quarantined pests, invasive alien species, living modified organisms.

Global Virus Network monitors spreading avian influenza in Australian mammals

The Global Virus Network (GVN) is closely monitoring detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1), commonly known as bird flu, in several mammal species in Australia as the virus continues to spread among birds and mammals worldwide.

18 Sep 2026

Far-UVC light tested to combat avian influenza on farms

When a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, HPAI, tore through U.S. poultry farms in early 2025, farmers culled tens of millions of birds and egg prices soared.

3 Sep 2026

DARPA funds project to build wireless yeast DNA printer

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has tasked scientists with developing a system that can receive instructions and synthesize a sequence of DNA or RNA without any chemical input. Think wireless DNA printer.

1 Sep 2026

H5N1 infections remain rare among workers exposed to infected birds

A two-year cohort study of 428 people exposed to H5N1-infected birds in England found fewer than 1% met criteria for infection, with no severe disease or secondary human transmission. The findings support continued PPE use, biosecurity, and targeted surveillance while highlighting challenges around occupational exposure, mucosal contamination, and pandemic preparedness.

10 Aug 2026

Researchers use AI to design functional bacteriophage genomes from scratch

Using AI, researchers have designed complete, functional bacteriophage genomes from scratch and tested them against bacteria that had evolved resistance to a natural bacteriophage.

7 Aug 2026

Pork supply chains may be shaping the global spread of drug-resistant Salmonella

Researchers linked 129,136 global human and swine Salmonella genomes with sampling from a Guangdong pork supply chain to examine how downstream stages relate to antimicrobial resistance. The study suggests slaughterhouse and retail interfaces may concentrate S. 4,[5],12:i:- ST34, resistant strains, and mobile resistance elements, supporting broader One Health surveillance beyond farms.

30 Jul 2026

Targeted vaccination strategies strengthen global biosecurity and biosafety

Biosafety prevents biohazard risks to humans and the environment, biosecurity protects biological assets from misuse, and One Health is an interdisciplinary framework uniting human, animal, and environmental health—all core to global health protection.

17 Jun 2026

Binghamton University receives $2.5 million to develop a next-generation avian flu vaccine

Outbreaks of avian flu at U.S. poultry farms led to more than $1.5 billion in losses over the last two years and drove egg prices to all-time highs in 2025.

6 Feb 2026

Weak governance hinders One Health outbreak response in Africa

Across Africa, One Health is endorsed at the top but often breaks down where outbreaks start, writes Albert Ansah.

5 Feb 2026

Overlooked animal viruses slipping past global disease surveillance

The study on Influenza D and Canine Coronavirus HuPn-2018 underscores urgent needs for targeted surveillance and diagnostics in infectious disease research.

2 Feb 2026

Ancient ice and modern pollution combine to spread antibiotic resistance as glaciers melt

Glaciers harbor both ancient and human-derived antibiotic resistance genes, preserved in ice and increasingly mobilized by climate-driven melt. This global review proposes a glacier-to-downstream “continuum” to understand how resistance genes may move through connected freshwater ecosystems.

18 Jan 2026

Wild birds found to be key drivers of H5N1 outbreak in North America

Since late 2021, a panzootic, or "a pandemic in animals," of highly pathogenic bird flu variant H5N1 has devastated wild birds, agriculture, and mammals.

14 Nov 2025

Protecting Rare Plants with a Monmouth Scientific Class 2 Biological Safety Cabinet

Monmouth Scientific's Class 2 Biological Safety Cabinet is vital for maintaining sterile conditions, boosting success in propagating endangered plant species.

From Monmouth Scientific 4 Nov 2025

New software enables real-time pathogen surveillance in the air and environment

Metagenomics is the study of all organisms present in a particular environment, such as soil, water, or the human body. A key part of metagenomic analysis is understanding what species are present (classification), how much of each there is (abundance), and the function of the microorganisms present.

28 Oct 2025

CRISPR-GPT helps scientists to generate designs, analyze data and troubleshoot design flaws

Stanford Medicine researchers have developed an artificial intelligence tool to help scientists better plan gene-editing experiments.

16 Sep 2025

Philippines unveils new technologies to detect and manage African Swine Fever

Three new technologies to detect and manage African Swine Fever have been unveiled in the Philippines amid ongoing concerns about a vaccine imported from Vietnam.

15 Sep 2025

New technology embeds unique genetic identifiers in engineered cells

Genetically engineered cell lines used in biomedical research have long been prone to misidentification and unauthorized use, wasting billions of dollars each year and jeopardizing critical scientific discoveries.

5 Sep 2025

Why Salmonella Dublin poses a food safety threat in beef and dairy

The study on Salmonella Dublin highlights its genomic similarities and resistance traits, raising concerns for food safety and antimicrobial resistance.

27 Aug 2025

Scientists warn of rising threat as poultry disease shows signs of jumping to humans

Avian Intestinal Spirochaetosis (AIS) is a chronic, underreported poultry disease caused by Brachyspira spp., with rising concern over its zoonotic risk to humans. This review highlights key challenges in diagnosis, antibiotic resistance, transmission, and the urgent need for improved surveillance and new prevention strategies.

23 Jun 2025

Would you trust a life form engineered in a lab? Here’s why it matters

A new report from Rice University’s Baker Institute outlines six core ethical challenges in synthetic biology, including risks, equity, and environmental impacts.

9 Jun 2025