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Washington, DC ,8/26/03 (UPI) Arms control groups filed a lawsuit today to block the Department of Energy from building biodefense laboratories without completing environmental impact statatements. The lawsuit is described(by the obviously approving UPI staff writer) as "part of a growing resistance to the Bush administration's $ 2.5 billion program to build biodefense plants around the country." The program was ordered after the terrorist attacks of 2001,with the aim of building new labs to look for vaccines and antidotes to deadly bioweapons. To find a vaccine, critics charge, the labs must make small quantities of the deadly pathogens, and administer...

Phase I/II Trial of Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara (MVA) Vaccine This study is currently recruiting patients. Sponsored by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Purpose This study will test the safety of an experimental vaccine called modified vaccinia virus ankara (MVA) and determine if it confers protection against the smallpox virus (variola). There is an existing vaccine, called Dryvax® (Registered Trademark), which is effective against smallpox; however, this vaccine can cause various side effects, including some that, on rare occasions, can be life-threatening. Dryvax® (Registered Trademark) has not been used in the United States since childhood vaccination was...