Letters to the Editor
chemical
Published Letters: 20 Editor's Choice: 1
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just to clarify
[Read the article: The unresolved story of ABC News' false Saddam-anthrax reports]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]On the silica vs Bentonite issue.
silica is a component of bentonite. If silica was found by and x-ray analysis it could confirm the presence of benontite. However, bentonite also contains aluminum, so the absence of aluminum suggests that any mineralization of the spores is not done with bentonite.
On the cell culture issue.
A bio-reactor is more or less complicated depending on the requirements of the cells being cultured. I haven't worked with anthrax spores or anything like them, but I have worked with 'difficult to culture' membrane proteins. Bioreactors can now be run in a sterile, prefabricated bag for low cost at relatively large scales. If you really used the recent advances in technology for chemical biology, you could probably do it in a room. Think of the amount of marijuana produced in a closet using current, optimised techniques vs a field in Mexico. If there's a market, someone will push the envelope of the production techniques.
the term sol-gel is ill-defined
sol gel recipes vary all over the map. Some are simple and some are extremely complicated.
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@batman_valentino
[Read the article: The unresolved story of ABC News' false Saddam-anthrax reports]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First, if you have created membrane proteins, you are a seasoned professional, not an amateur as implied by much of the FBI material. Also, membrane proteins, presumably for medical research do not require biosecurity level (BSL) 3 or 4 level containment. Unless you are trained and supported in an advanced BSL laboratory, a small mistake will kill you when working with this (Ames) strain of anthrax.
BSL requirements can be found at
http://bmbl.od.nih.gov/sect3bsl3.htm and http://www.niehs.nih.gov/odhsb/biosafe/bsc/bsc.htm
Basically, a small BSL 3 workspace could probably be created in a suburban garage. I haven't done any BSL 3 or 4 work, but I have worked with radionucleotides and with air/water sensitive compounds at different times. Working with dangerous and/or sensitive materials requries steady nerves and steady hands, but many little tricks transfer well from one project to another. You don't need BSL 3 experience to avoid anthrax contamination. You do need to know how to handle dangerous materials and how to decontaminate carefully and thoroughly. Someone with the nerve to send an anthrax-laden letter through the us mail, probably enjoys that sort of work.
So how much membrane protein are you producing? More than a few milligrams in the purified state would probably mean you are commerial scale, not research lab scale.
30mg, purified GPCR. In a research lab. aim: Structural biology.
The grad student who did the work came from the bio-tech industry in India. He had some different ways of thinking that proved to be very effective.
Bioreactors in particular are not usually run by the head of the lab. The day to day work will be done by a graduate student or lab technician. The technology is changing rapidly, and there are many people who have training, not necessarily in places you would expect them to be. Personally, I'm now doing bio-informatics work from home, which is why I get to lurk here so frequently. Nor am I particularly unusual. My local butcher in Amsterdam was a Moroccan trained as a biologist. Of the ten people I did my graduate training with, 3 are no longer doing science. Many many people with advanced training fall through the cracks one way or another. If a few of them were particularly disaffected, got together, and were aided by an effective enabler, some technically impossible things could become possible.
Sorry about the delay in responding. It was kind of late GMT.