In the weeks following the September 11th attacks, a series
of letters containing anthrax spores arrived at media outlets and the offices
of US Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. The acts of bioterrorism gripped
the nation in confusion, anger, and fear. Scores were hospitalized and five people
died. It was a senseless tragedy. But, it could have been much worse.
“Ten grams of anthrax spores could wipe out all of
Washington, DC, and the surrounding area,” says Lori Groven, (BS ChE, MS ChE,
PhD Nanoscience and Nanoengineering). “Biological weapons are scary for
everybody, because it takes so little to do so much damage,” she adds. The
minimum lethal dose for anthrax is estimated to be 5-10,000 spores, and one gram
of anthrax contains well over a trillion spores.
Groven is a research scientist and assistant professor in
the chemical and biological engineering department at Mines. She and her team
are part way through a five-year half-million-dollar grant from the Defense
Threat Reduction Agency. The research has led to new materials and methods for
combating bioterrorism.
One challenge Groven and her team have faced is the
instability of the chemicals currently used to neutralize biological weapons.
These compounds, or biocides, are made up mostly of a fuel and oxidizer
(iodate) powder. They have a very short shelf life. “This stuff doesn’t age
very well," says Groven. “If you put it out on the counter,...