Why is the Dept of Energy investigating the origins of Covid? Does their jurisdiction involve viruses?
And the Energy Department oversees the national laboratories, like Lawrence Livermore, which invented fusion. They have scientists under their command. And so they’re able to look at this more so than other agencies from a scientific perspective.
The Lawrence Livermore lab does energy research, that’s not the same as a virus. Shouldn’t it be better to have the CDC, Dept of Health, the FDA, or someone that works with infectious diseases do this?
To harness our scientific capabilities, the DOE has recently launched a task force that will coordinate the resources to study coronavirus and other public health issues that are available at the 17 DOE national laboratories.
DOE has a vital role to play in the national response to COVID-19. Researchers have already used tools at our national laboratories to make major inroads to analyzing the virus and its spread.
Scientists have used Summit – the most powerful supercomputer in the world and part of a DOE Office of Science user facility – to examine more than 700,000 viral genomes. They have also simulated more than 8,000 different compounds. As a result, they have identified 77 drug compounds with the potential to keep the virus from infecting a person. While a normal computer would have taken months to do this analysis, it only took Summit a few days.
The Department of Energy does a lot more than regulation and policy research for commercial power generation.
Stranger
So you’re suggesting they’re wrong about what they do?
https://www.llnl.gov/science-technology/bioscience-bioengineering
Our bio-based research teams tackle some of our nation’s most urgent challenges threatening human health and safety. For example, we develop techniques to identify biomarkers of infectious diseases, characterize the microbiome of wounds and test antidotes for nerve agents. We integrate world-class computational tools and experimental systems to develop effective countermeasures and work on the front lines of COVID-19 research, designing diagnostic tools and therapeutics. Our multidisciplinary approach to solving these challenges draws on our own expertise in numerous disciplines and collaborations with our nation’s defense community.
Well, now I know. I did not realize the DOE is doing so much with viruses. But it does sound odd. Shouldn’t they being doing research with energy? Does the FDA work on energy generation? Is it a case of government agencies being given tasks to do that may not relate to what it was created for? Not being snide, but what is the connection with the DOE doing biological research?
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) primary mission is research and development in support of national security. As a nuclear weapons design laboratory, LLNL has responsibilities in nuclear stockpile stewardship. LLNL also applies its expertise to prevent the spread and use of weapons of mass destruction and strengthen homeland security. Other areas include advanced defense technologies, energy, environment, biosciences, and basic science.
All part of the DOE umbrella.
The key to DoE’s national security involvement is in the phrase “weapons of mass destruction”. Bioweapons, including viruses, fall under that umbrella.
They also have a legal charter to pursue bioresearch in areas of energy production (such as biofuels) and environmental impact of energy systems.