Bioscience Division, B

B-7 Strives to Understand Emerging and Engineered Health Threats

This group specializes in studying methods to protect humans and other organisms from pathogens and disease – both naturally occurring ones and those that could be used as biothreat agents. Research areas include host-pathogen biology, microbial pathogenesis, molecular signaling, structural biology, innate immunity, bioforensics and security analysis. These research efforts can be applied to biothreat reduction and biodefense, protection of nuclear worker health and safety, advances in pharmaceuticals and general public health measures.

What's New?

Plasmids carry some genes responsible for botulinum neurotoxins

In collaboration among the Bioscience Division, Theoretical Division and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), scientists recently discovered that some of the genes responsible for producing the extremely potent botulinum neurotoxins of the bacteria Clostridium botulinum are found within extra-chromosomal elements, called plasmids. The project, led by Tom Brettin (B-6), Karen Hill (B-7), and Theresa Smith (USAMRIID) sequenced several strains of C. botulinum that produce different neurotoxin types and subtypes. Read More...

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B-7 Teams

• Environmental Assessment
• Forensics
• Host & Pathogen Biology
• Security Analysis & Applications
• Signature Design and Computation

Focus on Research

Links / Resources

• National Institutes of Health