Dr. Paul S. Keim presents “Science and Society in the Time of Anthrax”
Former McPherson resident and McPherson College alumnus Dr. Paul S. Keim shared his perspective on biological terrorism during the 2004 Mohler Lecture hosted by McPherson College on Sunday, October 3. A specialist in the development of DNA fingerprinting assays for understanding and tracking dangerous diseases such as anthrax and plague, Keim is the director of pathogen genomics at Translational Genomes (TGen) Institute and is the Cowden endowed chair in microbiology at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
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Dr. Paul S. Keim with his parents Bob and Sybil Keim on campus for his Mohler Lecture presentation. The Keims are McPherson College alumni with Bob also teaching Sociology for 10 years. |
During the 2001 anthrax letter attacks, Keim diverted his laboratory and personal efforts to the DNA analysis of the anthrax strain from the letters. His work resulted in one of the most tangible forensic leads in the investigation. Though only five of the 22 victims died from the bio terrorism attack, Keim noted the impact on society was large.
“The greatest impact was the fear factor,” he said. “The ability to interrupt our daily lives was tremendous and it demonstrated how society could be vulnerable to bio terrorism.”
Keim was also involved with the investigation of the 1993 gas attack on Kameido, Japan, which was spearheaded by occult leader Aum Shinikyo. The attack, designed to disrupt governmental processes and create world chaos, failed because the anthrax strain used was non-lethal. Some suggest the attack was a trial run to refine biological weapon methods.
In the 1960s, the United States, Britain, and the former Soviet Union were also engaged in developing biological weapons. As U.S. efforts were halted by President Nixon, Russia continued its research through the late 1980s. When the Cold War ended, great strides were made to develop collaboration efforts between the two countries to accomplish peaceful outcomes with anthrax research.
Keim has personally been involved with programs that encourage Russians and Americans to exchange genomic research tools. “The outreach programs are designed to help guide [Russian] leadership and provide employment for [Russian] scientists,” he said.
According to Keim, anthrax is used as a biological weapon because of its extended shelf life. He noted anthrax spores can have a life span of ten to 100 years, and he suggested that ancient documents such as the Bible provide evidence of plagues. In Exodus 9, the plagues of cattle and boils could have been anthrax related.
Historically, anthrax has been an important experimental tool to learn how bacteria work. Nobel Prize winner Robert Koch used anthrax to establish the scientific basis for the germ theory. Russian scientist Elie Metchnikoff used anthrax to demonstrate how the body defeats pathogens. And Louis Pasteur developed one of the first vaccines ever using anthrax.
Anthrax has been distributed across the world through natural environmental paths, with the most common victims being cattle and sheep. Keim described Third World cases where deceased, infected animals were butchered and skinned. Anthrax spores were distributed unknowingly through the exportation of meat, hides and wool.
It is suspected anthrax did not exist in the New World until European settlers arrived. Anthrax was then spread across the United States primarily through cattle trails, which date back to the Civil War. Keim also cited examples of anthrax distribution through textile mills in the early 20th century and faulty cattle vaccination batches in the 1950s.
Keim stressed that chances of an anthrax epidemic is “really unlikely.” Scientists are actively working to develop new and better vaccines to defend the bacteria. Currently, 15 antibiotics are available to treat the non-contagious disease. An advocate of the flu shot, Keim noted people are more likely to experience fatal results from influenza than from anthrax.
Being a world expert in anthrax has led Keim to Congress where he has testified on several occasions. While advocating for nonproliferation programs, he insists there is a need for “more than guns and guards to fight bio terrorism.”
“We need to promote education,” Keim highlighted. “We need more funding for education to train scientists to gain new insights and medical advances to deal with [biological terrorism] problems.”
Keim, who was a biology student for two years at McPherson College in the mid 1970s, credits his alma mater for influencing his career by providing a broad education, excellent teachers and solid scientists.
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