BU Biolab Prepares To Study Deadly Viruses After Decade Of Controversy
Original article from CBS Boston by January 9, 2018
BOSTON (CBS) – They will study some of the most deadly viruses in the world and the lab is in a densely populated Boston neighborhood.
After more than a decade of controversy, Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory (NEIDL) has received its final approval, and could begin studying Ebola and other viruses in a few months. WBZ-TV got an inside look at what they hope to accomplish, and how they plan to keep themselves, and the community safe.
The Bio Safety Level 4 lab is located in the South End, on Albany Street. It’s here that Boston University scientists hope to break the code of some of the world’s deadliest pathogens, like Ebola, the virus that killed thousands of people in Africa just a few years ago. In fact, Ebola is the first target of the NEIDL, one of only 10 of these labs in the United States.
“Trying to understand where these pathogens are, and being able to detect them early on would actually go a long way in stopping these types of terrible outbreaks, says Ron Corley, Ph.D. the director of the lab.