Decades of research flooded by Katrina
Tags: universitiesThe AP's "Years of Research Swept Away by Katrina's Rising Waters" reports on the research labs and similar that were scuttled or destroyed due to the hurricane.
Louisiana's chief epidemiologist [Dr. Raoult Ratard] enlisted state police on a mission to break into a high-security government ["hot lab"] and destroy any dangerous germs before they could escape or fall into the wrong hands. [he wouldn't name the germs in question]
…Thousands of laboratory animals - many genetically engineered with human diseases like cancer and painstakingly bred and cared for - perished along with vital tissue samples thawed in abandoned labs…
…One of the biggest blows is the likely destruction of frozen urine and blood samples from thousands of patients enrolled in the Bogalusa Heart Study, the world's longest-running racial study of risk factors for heart disease…
…About 300 federally funded projects at New Orleans colleges and universities worth more than $150 million - including 153 projects at Tulane - were affected in some way, according to an initial survey by the National Institutes of Health…
…One thin silver lining to all the lab damage: It appears that no deadly diseases were released from the area's "hot labs," where researchers routinely handle and store some of the world's most dangerous germs.
In Covington, just north of New Orleans, Tulane's high-security National Primate Research Center reported only minor damage and said none of its 5,000 research animals escaped…
[labs doing anthrax research reported no compromises]
10/13/05 UPDATE: "Katrina Leaves Scientific Research in Ruins" has a little more.
