Scientist: DNA led agents to anthrax suspect

[defendandprotect]

The pile of BS just keeps getting higher . .


Scientist: DNA led agents to anthrax suspect By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 38 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - DNA taken from the bodies of people killed in the 2001 anthrax attacks helped lead investigators to Bruce Ivins, who oversaw the highly specific type of germ in an Army lab, a government scientist said Sunday.

Using new genome technology to identify the type of Ames strain anthrax used in the attacks, the FBI began to focus on Ivins as its top suspect more than a year ago, according to the scientist who is close to the investigation.

Ivins "was the primary suspect for some time," said the scientist, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to reporters.

"It had to do with the very specific characteristics in the DNA of the letters and what was in Bruce's labs," the scientist said. "They were cultures he was personally responsible for."

Five people died and 17 others were sickened by envelopes of anthrax sent through the mail in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, spooking an already rattled nation. Ivins killed himself last week as prosecutors prepared to indict him on murder charges.

Although the Army biological weapons lab where Ivins worked — Ft. Detrick in Frederick, Md. — had long been on the FBI's radar, scientists were unable to pinpoint the specific strain used in the attacks until recently.

The FBI recruited top genome researchers from across the country and gave them "no rules, so we could do the best and most compelling approaches," said the scientist. At least $10 million was spent on the case, in what the scientist called "clearly the most expensive case FBI's ever undertaken. And the most scientifically compelling case."

The new genome technology used to track down Ivins was either not available or too expensive to use often until about three years ago.

Samples of cells taken from the bodies — and perhaps specifically from Bob Stevens, a 63-year-old tabloid photo editor in Boca Raton, Fla. — looked at the type of Ames strain anthrax that killed them.

Researchers then looked at DNA strands of the Ames strains and noted very subtle differences within them, the scientist said. Investigators then matched the strain found in the victims'



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080803/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/anthrax_investigation

[EFerrari]

1. Sure. I guess whoever figured out their first story isn't believable.

Eta: And didn't I read that his lab didn't do powder?

[defendandprotect]

5. THEY --- he and his co-worker -- were given either "the letters" or samples of ...

what was in the letters to test --

they had samples of ALL the stuff in the letters in their work area --

because they were assisting the investigation ---

Then there's a leak of this material on his co-workers desk --- she was complaining that
she thought there was a leak and he tested for her --- and cleaned it up. He also found
spores at his desk and in other areas.


As I recall from my reading, there are only 4 or 5 people in the world who know how to
mix up a batch of weaponized anthrax. Ivins isn't one of them.

Also seems that a few years ago, the Washington Post ran a story saying they no longer
considered the Anthrax to be "weaponized." That was about 2005.

[Supersedeas]

2. Perhaps unavailable or too expensive: wouldn't that be a logical question of your source????

Hatfill was the chief suspect for all of that time -- they wanted to nail him and couldn't -- but the technology to isolate the case was too expensive!?!

[indepat]

3. Yeah, it's a shame genome technology wasn't available in 2001 or was to expensive

:P

[defendandprotect]

7. I haven't compared the various websites and their info . . .

but my first stop was Wiki and I think they're reporting that the whole thing cost $1 billion
to clean up.

That doesn't include the payoff to Hatfill -- which is reported sometimes as 4 plus million
and at other times as 5 plus million ... ????

Meanwhile, since Ivins was helping the government in testing all of these samples -- he and
his co-worker had the material --- if not "the letters" --- and his co-worker noticed that
the stuff they had been given was leaking. Ivins checked because she was complaining and
found that the stuff was leaking. And, his own office/desk area also had spores from the
leak. And he found spores in other areas ---
He cleaned them up.

Ivins worked on vaccines --- there were at the time only 4 or 5 people in the world who knew
how to mix up this weaponized stuff. Ivins wasn't one of them.

[Muttocracy]

4. Baloney. What new DNA technology is there now that wasn't available in 2001

or even 2005 when they were still going after Hatfill?

Wouldn't the anthrax vaccines the military lab was working on have made use of part or all of the anthrax genome??!!! Just because the anthrax genome isn't one of the ones that's been published in Science or Nature doesn't mean the U.S. govmt doesn't have it.

[gatorboy]

6. If this evidence so specifically targeted Ivins, Why did they go after Dr. Steven J. Hatfill first?