- C. The Genetic Analysis
By late November 2001, investigators knew that there were variants, or mutations, in the evidentiary material, based on phenotypic observation (i.e., by the naked eye), that might be explained through genetics. When a lab technician grew the spores from the letters over an extended period of time, the growth revealed a small percentage of colonies that were noticeably different–they exhibited different textures, colors, and growth patterns. Based on this discovery, investigators and FBI scientists began to evaluate whether they could identify and classify these mutations genetically, thus potentially identifying a single source of the material used in the attacks.
There were many in the scientific community who were not convinced that this endeavor would prove fruitful. They argued that it was by no means clear that the phenotypic variations observed actually had a genetic basis. In addition, even if there were a genetic basis for the variations observed phenotypically, actually identifying, classifying, and testing for the corresponding genetic mutation had never before been accomplished with this bacterium. In fact, the tests needed to conduct such an analysis of Bacillus anthracis did not even exist in 2001. It was, as one world-renowned expert in Bacillus anthracis later called it, “Star Wars stuff.” As a leading FBI scientist involved in the investigation at the time stated, “It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.” Notwithstanding these challenges, the Task Force, with the assistance of a number of outside labs, opted to pursue this avenue of investigation.
Over the next five months, investigators endeavored to build a database of Ames samples for genetic comparison to the evidentiary material. The Grand Jury issued subpoenas to those 15 domestic and three foreign labs that investigators had determined possessed the Ames strain of Bacillus anthracis. The subpoena requested samples of each batch of the Ames strain held in a lab. It set forth the protocol to be used in taking those representative samples in order to ensure uniformity among submissions to what would become known as the FBI Repository (“FBIR”). Consent searches were also conducted at both USAMRIID and Dugway Proving Ground in Utah (“Dugway”), and a search warrant was executed at a private company in the midwest in 2004, to ensure that samples were taken from each stock of Ames in those facilities. In addition, a detailed review of laboratory notebooks, the genealogy of the Ames strain, and transfers was conducted to capture any unreported transfers of RMR-1029–and none was discovered. A total of 1,070 samples were ultimately submitted, which represents a sample from every Ames culture at every laboratory identified by the FBI as having the Ames strain.
A number of mutations were ultimately selected that were determined to be the most suitable for comparison to the FBIR samples. Beginning in May 2002, the FBI contracted with an outside lab, The Institute for Genomic Research, to perform genetic sequence analyses of the Ames strain of Bacillus anthracis. The genetic analyses included the original Ames isolate, known as the “wildtype,” to be used as a baseline for comparison to the mutant organisms identified within the evidentiary material. Genetic analysis of morphological variants identified mutations which were later exploited to develop specific assays to identify the presence of
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