Characterizing Microbial Backgrounds
Biothreat Reduction Efforts
Work in biothreat reduction at Los Alamos extends across many areas, from
detection technologies, to pathogen analysis, to understanding host-pathogen
interactions for better vaccine development.
A Needle in a Haystack
One of the many efforts underway is a project to better understand
the pathogens naturally found in the environment, especially that of cities.
Researchers are working to be sure that detectors are not confounded by
false positive reactions due to the presence of naturally occurring background
microorganisms.
By determining the abundance and composition of these organisms in key soil,
water, and aerosol samples, Bioscience Division's environmental molecular
biology research team is establishing baselines for determining detection
limits of biothreat pathogens in environmental samples and for distinguishing
released biothreat pathogens from the natural microbial background. |
