What in the world is taking place in Australia? Freak Thunderstorm Asthma Outbreak sets 8500 people in hospital in one week and leaves so far eight dead, as well as another sixty in critical condition.
The question has arisen, is the thunderstorm asthma outbreak caused by biological warfare? You decide.
“When we’ve had people calling for ambulances – one call every 4½ seconds at the peak – it was like having 150 bombs going off right across a particular part of metropolitan Melbourne.
And that’s something we’ve never really planned for.”
To add to the possibility, just days after the mysterious outbreak – the FBI shows up at a competition for high school students and college students.
Every year, thousands of budding biologists compete in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition. Their goal is to employ synthetic biology to address pressing global issues. The list of sponsors is pretty much what you would expect for such an event—software companies, scientific journals, organizations focused on clean energy and agriculture.
But there’s one name on the list that’s fairly arresting: the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Why would the FBI care about the projects of high school and college biology students?
iGEM is just one of the ways that the FBI is collaborating with the biotech community, says Megan Palmer, a senior research scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.
In order to be prepared to respond to an emerging biological threat, no matter if it’s an accidental outbreak or a biological attack, the FBI is working to create a culture of trust and transparency with the biotech community. Palmer discussed this topic last week at the Biofabricate conference for synthetic biology and design in New York City.
Tell us what you think in the comments below.
Hey i was in Melbourne the day it happened. A friend qas taken to hospotal. This person does not suffer from asthma but does get occassional croop. I am a nurse and i asked her how it started. This person stated that her lips went thick and tingly and her throat tighten and ahe couldn’t catch her breath. The doctor that reviewed her question her on allergies asked her whatshe had eaten. It was classic anaphalaxis. Same day a young male with a anaphalatic reaction to maccadamia nuts also died though the family can’t explain how he came to ingest the nut. I believe that it was not an asthma event as many effected were not asthmatics. ?gmo rye grass. Glyphosate/roundup.
Question what would the government do if you were to walk around in a Hazmat suit?