Biosafety committee reviews new influenza research

Two new biological research projects came before the Institutional Biosafety Committee Tuesday. Both involved influenza research at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Babs Marrone of the laboratory’s Bioscience Division said her application for a project on “Environmental Sampling for Endemic Influenza Strains” was made in anticipation of funding from a Congressionally approved project led by the University of California, Los Angeles, for a High Speed, High Volume Laboratory Network for Infectious Diseases.

The larger project is intended to improve national responsiveness and decision-making in the event of a bioterror attack or outbreak of infectious diseases. The project aims to provide hundreds of times more capability for analyzing biological samples than has been available up until now.

“We’re trying to be prepared for the kinds of samples that would be part of that network,” Marrone said.

Locally, Marrone proposes to begin working out procedures and processes for identifying environmental traces of influenza in RNA molecular signatures. She is not testing for avian flu, but rather for the genes that would signal the flue. If found, these samples would be moved to another lab.

If you subscribe to the newspaper, you receive FREE access to all the exclusive content of the web site! Simply register to receive uninterrupted access to our award-winning and in-depth local online content!

Renew Current or Past Subscription / Register for Online Subscription

If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Los Alamos Monitor, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.

Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.

Newspaper Acct. ID:
Street Address:	(exactly as it appears on the label)

If you are a subscriber and you do not know your account ID or don't have a copy of your newspaper available that shows the information on the address label you can click continue below to search for your account.

New Subscription/30 Day Free Trial Account

If you are new to the award winning Los Alamos Monitor and wish to get a subscription or simply gain access to our online content then please enter your ZIP code below and continue to setup your account.

ZIP Code:

Create a limited access account.
Register to participate in community forums, post on the community calendar, blog etc. This registration does not give you full access to read our award winning content, etc.

The Los Alamos Monitor | lacirculation@lamonitor.com | 505-662-4185
256 DP Road, Los Alamos, NM 87544
Office Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday