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US Army and their Anthrax follies.... |
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CRS, DrPH
Expert Level Adviser Joined: January 20 2014 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 26660 |
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Posted: June 20 2015 at 9:13am |
This is a very good article documenting the ongoing woes of the US Army labs and their attempts to deactivate Anthrax spores:
Normally, labs would use steam autoclaves to destroy Anthrax spores, it is well-proven and effective. So why is the US Army so insistent upon using radiation? My guess is because they do not want to alter the chemistry of the Anthrax spores. Spores are being sent to various labs in order to test early warning/detection technologies, which may rely upon antigenic testing of spore coats or other technique. However, from this article, it appears that the attempts to use gamma radiation were inadequate.
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CRS, DrPH
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CRS, DrPH
Expert Level Adviser Joined: January 20 2014 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 26660 |
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^It turns out that I was correct about why they used gamma irradiation vs. proven autoclave - samples of anthrax spores were sent to labs that were trying to develop Anthrax monitoring and countermeasure technology.
DoD sends inactivated BA spores to outside labs for research and development of countermeasures to protect US troops, allies, partners, and the public from biological attack, according to Work. The department has four labs that handle BA: Dugway in Utah and three facilities in Maryland: the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and the Naval Medical Research Center. |
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CRS, DrPH
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onefluover
Admin Group Joined: April 21 2013 Location: Death Valleyish Status: Offline Points: 20151 |
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You were spot on! That is exactly what I would of figured as well. Autoclaves, through heat AND pressure, "crack" the spore. It would be difficult to accurately guage their test equipment using cracked spores (among other aspects of destruction as well which may include contaminating the spore with minerals assuming the distilled water isn't perfectly distilled). Theoretically, irradiating would destroy the activity of the spore but while leaving it wholely intact.
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