Engineering topics

Lancaster, Mary J.

Publications and source records attributed to Lancaster, Mary J..

2 records

DOE OSTI2023

Insights from a workplace SARS-CoV-2 specimen collection program, with genomes placed into global sequence phylogeny

In 2020, the Department of Energy established the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory (NVBL) to address key challenges associated with COVID-19. As part of that effort, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established a capability to collect and analyze specimens from employees who self-reported symptoms consistent with the disease. During the spring and fall of 2021, 688 specimens were screened for SARS-CoV-2, with 64 (9.3%) testing positive using reverse-transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Of these, 36 samples were released for research. All 36 positive samples released for research were sequenced and genotyped. Here, the relationship between patient age and viral load as measured by Ct values was measured and determined to be only weakly significant. Consensus sequences for each sample were placed into a global phylogeny and transmission dynamics were investigated, revealing that the closest relative for many samples was from outside of Washington state, indicating mixing of viral pools within geographic regions.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Cyberbiosecurity and Public Health in the Age of COVID-19

Cyberbiosecurity, the aspect of biosecurity involving the digital representation of biological data, had already been emerging as a matter of public concern even prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key issues of concern include, among others, the privacy of patient data, the security of public health databases, the integrity of diagnostic test data, the integrity of public biological databases, the security implications of automated laboratory systems and the security of proprietary biological engineering advances. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the importance of digital resources in combatting it, concern about the potential for cyber attacks by state-based or non-state actors has been elevated. To illuminate the challenges, we focus on the cyber vulnerabilities that need to be addressed in public health activities such as disease surveillance and outbreak management. In particular, we examine cyber issues raised by the accelerated pace of development for COVID mitigations, treatments, and vaccines.

cybersecurity, biosecurity↗