NRC Annual Report 2001-2002

N R C – F R O M D I S C O V E R Y T O I N N O V A T I O N...46Puffer fish poisonings solvedAnalytical chemists at NRC-IMB successfully identifiedsaxitoxin as the causative agent in near fatalpoisonings in the United States associated witheating Atlantic Puffer fish, a species never previouslyassociated with toxicity. Apart from therapid resolution of the poisoning mystery, thisexpert research in marine toxins has resulted inincreased awareness of a potential new source ofseafood poisoning.Helping identify the victims of theWorld Trade Center attackIn the aftermath of the September 11 attack onthe World Trade Center, health officials in NewYork City were faced with the unprecedented challengeof identifying the thousands who died whenthe twin towers collapsed. American firm GeneCodes Corporation, a leading company in thecreation of DNA sequencing software and databases,was chosen for the task. Gene CodesForensics, a wholly owned subsidiary of GeneCodes Corporation, was created for the solepurpose of handling the specific needs of thisproject.To help manage the tremendous amount of datagenerated by the project, Gene Codes recruitedthe leader of NRC’s Canadian BioinformaticsResource specifically for his world-leading expertisein genetic database management. UsingNRC’s expertise, new software was created thatcould rapidly catalogue, search, and compare vastamounts and different types of genetic information,with the ultimate goal of identifying victims.By using different DNA sequencing techniques, aunique DNA signature could be developed foreach victim and compared to samples taken froma missing person’s personal effects, such as atoothbrush or hairbrush. The software was thefirst of its kind able to handle such a vast array ofinformation and data with the goal of identifyingthe victims as quickly as possible.As the world came to terms withthe September 11 tragedy, a teamof experts was called upon toinvestigate and report on theperformance of the affected buildingsin the vicinity of Ground Zero.Among them was an NRC expertin building performance – the onlymember from outside the U.S.invited to join the study.