Hunley Research Proves Relevant to 21st Century Warfare

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Hunley Research Proves Relevant to 21st Century Warfare

July 8, 2002--It sounds like the most mundane, irrelevant research imaginable, of no interest to anybody except boring old people who care about history.

The question under investigation was, can you send X-rays, or gamma rays, through a cast-iron container without damaging DNA that might be inside the object? The object in this case was the long-sunken Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley, and the DNA they wanted to protect would belong to crewmen whose remains might or might not be inside.

At the time, in the winter of 2000-2001, the Hunley had not yet been opened so it was not known if remains were inside.

"There was no way we could use the Hunley as a guinea pig, so real research was needed before we could decide to use X or gamma rays on the sub and its contents," said Paul Mardikian, the senior conservator on the Hunley project.

Instead they used the remains of people who had donated their bodies to science after their deaths. The cadavers were subjected to both kinds of radiation--something that had not been investigated before because, after all, why bother to X-ray a dead person? It was found that the radiation had virtually no effect on the DNA.

Unfortunately, the discovery did the Hunley researchers no good, because the X-rays were hindered by the iron hull of the sub, and the gamma rays had trouble penetrating the wet sand packed inside it.

It was just another example of negative research at the time, scientists thought. Information was gained, but was of no benefit to the project. It seemed like time and money wasted. It doesn't seem that way any more.

"This information may prove vital to protecting health care workers, scene responders and others who might come in contact with infected tissue," said Dr. Jamie Downs, chief medical examiner for the state of Alabama, and a member of the Hunley's forensic science team.

Ultimately, the Charleston Post & Courier reported, the information gathered to see if the Hunley's hull could be X-rayed without damaging the crewmen's DNA might help protect researchers handling bodies infected with lethal anthrax.

Downs has presented the research to two groups: the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the Mass Fatality Management Partnership, a group of federal, state and local officials working on information related to weapons of mass destruction fatality management issues that is coordinated through the U.S. Army's Soldier and Biological Chemical Command.

The primary advantage of the research is to show that irradiation doesn't damage DNA for forensic identification purposes but could sterilize bodies so that health care workers studying infected bodies won't get sick. High radiation is used, for example, to sterilize mail that might contain anthrax spores.

In future attacks, or natural disasters such as earthquakes, searchers could X-ray piles of debris to see what is inside without having to worry that they are making it impossible to identify victims buried at the site.

Downs said this illustrates the great value of science - the unexpected benefits of research. People who question the wisdom of spending time and money examining an old submarine need to look no further. It is an old story.

"NASA is the perfect example," Downs said. "If they hadn't gone to the moon, we wouldn't have desk top computers right now. As with all great science, it's usually an accident that something comes along. You don't always get exactly what you're searching for, but there are often unintended benefits."


Courtesy of:
Civil War Interactive: The Daily Newspaper of the Civil War
www.civilwarinteractive.com