The Demon in the Freezer

Glossary

Amplification. Multiplication of a virus. See replication.

Anthrax. Bacillus anthracis, a rod-shaped, spore-forming bacterium that grows profusely in lymph and blood. Name comes from the Greek word for black, after the blackening of the skin caused by an anthrax infection of the skin.

Anthrax spores. Tiny ovoid spores, one micron long, produced when anthrax bacterial cells encounter adverse conditions and are unable to keep growing. About two hundred spores would span the thickness of a human hair.

Antiviral drug. A type of drug that stops or slows a virus infection.

Biological weapon or bioweapon. Disease-causing pathogen dispersed into a human population as a weapon. Usually prepared and treated in special ways in order to be dispersed in the air.

Biosafety Level 4. Also BL-4 or Level 4. Highest level of biocontainment; requires the wearing of a bioprotective space suit.

Black pox. See flat hemorrhagic smallpox.

Blue suit. A bioprotective full-body space suit, typically blue.

BWC. The Biological Weapons and Toxin Convention, an international treaty, signed by more than one hundred and forty nations, which forbids the development, possession, and use of offensive biological weapons. Signed by the United States in 1972.

CDC. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Atlanta.

Chains of transmission. Chains of infection, which typically branch through a population.

Construct. A recombinant virus made in the laboratory.

Cytokine. A signaling compound, released by cells, that circulates in the blood and lymph and regulates a system in the body. Many cytokines serve as signals in the immune system.

Cytokine storm. Derangement and collapse of the immune system and other systems in the body.

DNA. The long, twisted, ladderlike molecule that contains the genetic code of an organism. The rungs of the ladder, or nucleotide bases, are the letters of the code.

Dumbbell core. Dumbbell-shaped body in the center of a poxvirus particle, which contains the virus’s DNA or genome. Also known as the dogbone of pox. Unique to poxviruses.

Engineered virus. A recombinant virus or construct virus that contains foreign genes in its DNA or RNA.

Epidemiology. The science and art of tracing the origin and spread of diseases in populations with the goal of controlling or stopping them.

Flat hemorrhagic smallpox. Also known as black pox. The most malignant form of smallpox disease, characterized by hemorrhages and darkening (purpuric) skin. It is essentially one hundred percent fatal.

Gene. A short stretch of DNA that contains the genetic code for a single protein or a related group of proteins in an organism.

Genetic engineering. The science and art of inserting genes into or removing them from the DNA of an organism, changing the organism’s inherited characteristics as a life-form.

Genome. The entire amount of DNA in a cell or virus particle, which contains the complete genetic code of the organism. (Some viruses use RNA for their genomes.)

Harper strain. Hot strain of smallpox in the smallpox repository at the CDC.

HMRU. The Hazardous Materials Response Unit of the FBI. A rapid-response team for incidents of chemical or biological terrorism; stationed at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

Host. An organism that a parasite lives inside or on.

Hot. Virulent; infective; lethal.

IL-4 gene. The gene that codes for interleukin-4, which is a common cytokine that regulates the immune system.

IL-4 smallpox. A genetically engineered smallpox not known to exist, though some experts fear it might easily be created in a laboratory by the insertion of the human IL-4 gene into natural smallpox virus. Recent experiments suggest that IL-4 smallpox might evade the vaccine and be superlethal in humans. See mousepox and IL-4 gene.

India-1 strain. A strain of smallpox, believed to be exceedingly virulent in humans, possibly vaccine resistant, weaponized, and produced in tonnage quanties by the Soviet Union for loading into ICBMs.

Laminar-flow hood or simply hood. A laboratory cabinet with a sliding glass front, similar in principle to an exhaust hood over a kitchen stove, used to protect samples from becoming contaminated and researchers from becoming infected.

Micron. One millionth of a meter. An anthrax spore is one micron long. Bioweapons particles are ideally one to five microns in size, so as to be inhaled deeply into the lungs.

Mirrored smallpox. A doubled collection of smallpox, kept in identical, or “mirror,” freezers designated A and B. If one freezer is lost, the smallpox collection remains intact in the other freezer.

Mousepox virus. Also called ectromelia. A poxvirus of mice that is related to smallpox. IL-4 mousepox is a genetically engineered mousepox that breaks through some vaccine-induced immunity in some types of mice. See IL-4 smallpox.

Multiplier. An estimate of the number of secondary cases that will be caused by one infectious case. Known technically as R-zero.

Nanopowder silica. Extremely fine particles of silica glass, which can be mixed into a biological weapon to make it better able to become easily airborne and thus more infective in the lungs.

Parasite. An organism that lives inside or on a host organism and typically harms the host.

Pipette. Handheld push-button device used for moving small amounts of liquid.

Plaque picking. Method of using a pipette to suck cells infected with a virus out of a well plate. Technique for purifying a strain of engineered virus.

Plasmid. A short piece of DNA, in the shape of a ring, that multiplies inside bacteria as they grow. A plasmid can be engineered with foreign genes and then recombined with a virus to make an engineered virus.

Poxvirus. A large family of viruses, found in mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and insects. Poxvirus particles are among the largest and most complex virus particles in nature.

Rahima strain. A strain of smallpox in the repository at the CDC, taken from scabs of Rahima Banu, a three-year-old girl in Bangladesh who was the last person on earth to be naturally infected with variola major.

Replication. Self-copying. See amplification.

Ring vaccination. Prophylactic technique of vaccinating every susceptible person within a ring around an outbreak.

Trans-species jump. The process whereby a virus changes types of hosts, moving from one species to another.

USAMRIID. United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Also known as the Institute or Rid.

Vaccine. A compound or virus that, when introduced into the body, provokes immunity to a disease.

Vaccine breakthrough. A (typically lethal) infection that breaks through a person’s vaccine-induced immunity.

Vaccinia. A poxvirus closely related to smallpox. It is much less virulent than smallpox in humans and is used as the vaccine for it.

Variola. Scientific name for smallpox virus; comes in two natural subtypes, variola major and variola minor.

Vector. The State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, near Novosibirsk, Siberia.

Virion. Virus particle.

Virulence. Ability to cause disease; lethality.

Virus. The smallest form of life, a parasite that can replicate only inside cells, using the cell’s machinery. Viruses are small particles made of proteins, with a core containing DNA or RNA.

Virus weapon. A virus that has been prepared for use as a weapon. May be made through genetic engineering.

Well plate. A plastic plate divided into cups or wells, where viruses are grown inside living cells; essential tool for virus engineering.

World Health Organization (WHO). International body associated with the United Nations; headquartered in Geneva.