Lab continues to be in forefront of bioscience research

At a recent talk to local Rotary Club members, the Laboratory's Bioscience (B) Division Leader Jill Trewhella covered a broad span of bioscience research history in a short length of time.

Providing her audience with the background information needed to understand the Laboratory's bioscience research in counterterrorism, Trewhella noted the Lab's decades long work in bio-medical research that began in 1945 with metabolic studies on the human health effects of ionizing radiation.

The multidiciplinary nature of the B Division, which encompasses biology, chemistry, physics and computational biology, provides a fertile environment to nurture collaboration among researchers who work toward the division's mission of serving the nation's needs in health and national security. As a result, recent world events found the Laboratory ready to respond. The intelligence community knew that the Lab has the expertise in pathogens, Trewhella said, and works in microbial forensics - thus the national security work in anthrax that became crucial after Sept. 11, 2001. "It is our science that is being used by the FBI and the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]," Trewhella noted.

"This summer (see Los Alamos NewsLetter, Sept. 2, 2002), Trewhella briefed President George W. Bush on one of the tools used in counterterrorism, the portable DNA analyses system. "The aim is to get the technology into the hands of users, such as law enforcement agencies, the military and public health areas," Trewhella said. The Lab has pioneered DNA databases in health-related areas, Trewhella explained, and this research is a key underpinning in biothreat reduction.

In her talk, Trewhella also discussed the Joint Genome Institute, which includes Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories. The institute is ramping up its work in pathogen sequencing, Trewhella said. The Antibody Production Project in the Microbial Pathogens Program is working to produce antibodies to be used in lieu of vaccines; individuals could be injected with an antibody that would passively provide immunization for a limited time.

Trewhella also discussed the threat tuberculosis poses. A full one-third of the world's population carries this bacteria. It is a destabilizing factor, she noted. B Division is doing structural reach on TB. In addition, chemical agents synthesization research provides information on how a chemical is metabolized once an individual is exposed to it. Nanotechnology was touched upon as well, and Trewhella noted a facility will be built at Los Alamos to house research, one of five new centers nationwide.

Trewhella stood for questions after her presentation and explained the risk analysis involved in smallpox vaccination.

-- Judy Goldie

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