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Washington, D.C. (April 5, 2024): It is a little-known agency, but the Biological Defense Research Directorate does everything from defending troops against the threat of biological and chemical attack to tracking genomes in a disease outbreak. Part of the Navy’s Medical Research Command, its mission is to develop strategies for medical defense against biological warfare agents and naturally occurring infectious agents like Covid-19. In this photo by Mike Wilson, Maren Fitzpatrick, a research associate with the Naval Medical Research Command, performs DNA sample quality control in preparation for a sequencing run in its laboratory at Frederick, Maryland. The sequencing data is used to provide surveillance of potential outbreaks and helps identify and characterize a virus’ potential resistance to current treatments.

The Naval Medical Research Command focuses on combat related medical problems such as battlefield neurotrauma, wound infections, biological agents, and naturally occurring infectious diseases. The Biological Defense group emphasizes protecting warfighters in the case of a biological attack while also being prepared to investigate disease outbreaks or threats to public health. Their researchers are considered leaders in their fields including detection, molecular diagnostics, and confirmatory analysis.

As early as the turn of the century, American troops faced the specter of chemical or biological weapons. During World War II, military scientists assembled at what is now Camp Detrick in 1943 to develop ways to protect our troops from enemy gas attacks. From this came a research program involving pioneering laboratory methods that were soon turned to the benefit of the public to spot infectious diseases.

Today, the laboratory is a national source for testing and analysis of biological hazards and the disciplines of Genomics, Immunodiagnostics, and Molecular research.