NSF And 9/11 >> Identifying the Anthrax Bacterium
In the months following the Sept. 11 attacks, scientists played a critical role in analyzing materials from the first known victim of the 2001 mailed-letter assault that exposed 22 people along the East Coast to Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax.
Experts at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and Northern Arizona University identified genetic markers that distinguished the Florida Bacillus from closely related strains, pioneering the use of genomics for forensic analysis of microbes. Previous analyses of genetic markers focused on a limited number of DNA segments rather than the entire microbe genome.
Led by Timothy Read and Claire Fraser of TIGR, the scientists discovered that the Florida Bacillus came from a 1981 strain found in a Texas cow—a strain that researchers had later used in experiments at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Md.
Next: NSF And 9/11 >> Mapping the Site
