Biological agent

A biological agent—also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon—is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, or fungus that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism or biological warfare (BW). In addition to these living and/or replicating pathogens, biological toxins are also included among the bio-agents. More than 1,200 different kinds of potentially weaponizable bio-agents have been described and studied to date.

Biological agents have the ability to adversely affect human health in a variety of ways, ranging from relatively mild allergic reactions to serious medical conditions, including death. Many of these organisms are ubiquitous in the natural environment where they are found in water, soil, plants, or animals. Bio-agents may be amenable to "weaponization" to render them easier to deploy or disseminate. Genetic modification may enhance their incapacitating or lethal properties, or render them impervious to conventional treatments or preventives. Since many bio-agents reproduce rapidly and require minimal resources for propagation, they are also a potential danger in a wide variety of occupational settings.

Vaccine

A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing micro-organism and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as a threat, destroy it, and keep a record of it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these micro-organisms that it later encounters. Vaccines can be prophylactic (example: to prevent or ameliorate the effects of a future infection by any natural or "wild" pathogen), or therapeutic (e.g., vaccines against cancer are also being investigated).

The administration of vaccines is called vaccination. The effectiveness of vaccination has been widely studied and verified; for example, the influenza vaccine, the HPV vaccine, and the chicken pox vaccine. Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases; widespread immunity due to vaccination is largely responsible for the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the restriction of diseases such as polio, measles, and tetanus from much of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that licensed vaccines are currently available to prevent or contribute to the prevention and control of twenty-five infections.

Vaccine (musician)

Vaccine (Christine Clements) is a female dubstep record producer based in California, United States. She is the first female dubstep producer. She was the first woman signed to a label (Hotflush Recordings) within, what was up until then, a genre whose producers were almost entirely male.

Before she started producing, she was promoting other people's music.

Vaccine's style has been recognised as being considerably more melodic and ethereal, with XLR8R magazine noting her 'subtle melodies and echoed vocals', as well as stating that '(Vaccine's) constructions aren’t necessarily main floor rave fodder, but rather, comedown music for a 6 a.m. all-back-to-mine', as well as mentioning 'jittery electronic elements with gothic ambient nuances'.

Clements is a self-described Skinny Puppy and Portishead fan. Her influences are "Nine Inch Nails, Dom & Roland, Skinny Puppy, The Prodigy, Technical Itch, Sasha and Digweed, Future Sound of London, Akira Yamaoka, Helios, Harold Budd, Surgeon, Zero 7, Portishead, Massive Attack, Tricky, friends, lovers, label mates, colors, sounds, places, feelings."

Vaccine (journal)

Vaccine is a peer-reviewed medical journal, published by Elsevier. It is targeted towards medical professionals who are interested in vaccines and vaccination. It describes itself as "an interface between academics, those in research and development, and workers in the field. Relevant topics range from basic research through to applications, safety and legislation."

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