A Role for Science in Responding to Health Crises.

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate plays a role in public health that extends beyond biodefense. These responsibilities were exercised as part of the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak, leading to productive and beneficial contributions to the international public health response and improved operations in the United States. However, we and others have identified numerous areas for improvement.

Lidars: a key component of urban biodefense.

A biological aerosol attack in a city could infect tens of thousands of people. In the absence of announcements by the attacker or detection by present point detection systems, victims would be unaware of their exposure prior to developing symptoms. Since infections are most effectively countered before the onset of symptoms, detection technologies that provide early awareness of an attack should be given high priority.

Plasmodium falciparum falcilysin: a metalloprotease with dual specificity.

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum degrades host cell hemoglobin within an acidic food vacuole. The metalloprotease falcilysin has previously been identified as an important component of this catabolic process. Using random peptide substrate analysis, we confirm that recombinant falcilysin is highly active at acidic pH, consistent with its role in hemoglobin degradation.