Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (48076)	9/29/2002 7:46:33 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Yes and No...Here's more current info on Ames Strain...June 2002 Study Confirms Ames Strain Used In Anthrax Attacks; Scientists Investigated - usmedicine.com WASHINGTON-Researchers last month confirmed earlier reports that the B. anthracis strain used in the recent Florida anthrax attacks was derived from the weapons grade Ames strain, though they could not pinpoint the exact origin of the Florida isolate. The Ames anthrax strain was initially developed by the U.S. Army but was later distributed to university researchers, who in turn provided samples to other facilities including a military laboratory in the United Kingdom. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) acknowledged last month that investigators would administer polygraph tests to a number of current and former employees of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, and other laboratories. Yet, a spokesperson for the FBI declined to specify the number of scientists who would receive the polygraph, though other news accounts said 200 individuals would be tested. Officials from the FBI and Army said the tests were "completely voluntary," noting that no one could be compelled to take a lie detector test. The study that linked the Florida attacks to the Ames anthrax strain appeared in the May 9 online issue of Science Express. It compared isolates of the two strains and demonstrated that genome sequencing would soon allow scientists to more accurately trace the origin of individual bacterial strains, determine whether or not strains have been genetically modified, and assess the potential danger of the bacterium. "This study provides a framework for future research on the genetic variation among anthrax bacterial strains," said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Md. "We now can expand on this information by generating genomic sequences for many different anthrax strains, allowing us to distinguish among them at the single-nucleotide level." In the study, researchers from Northern Arizona University and The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Rockville, Md., compared information from the Ames strain with the entire genomic sequence of the Florida strain. Yet, researchers could not glean much information from the study because they were comparing two variations of the same strain-which is like trying to differentiate the entire human race by examining the genetics of two first cousins in a remote village, said Timothy Read, PhD, a TIGR scientist. Thus, NIAID has provided additional funds for TIGR and Northern Arizona University to study 14 or more B. anthracis strains and closely related bacteria. The research will allow scientists to learn more about the genetic variability that causes differences among individual strains.