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They have been called the foundation of the biosphere, invisible yet essential. And now researchers know bacteria are unimaginably abundant but just don 't know exactly who they are.

In the summer of 2000, scientists around the world cheered as the effort to unravel the mystery of the human genome reached a milestone—a completed draft of the human genome sequence. The sequence is a set of instructions that determines individual characteristics ranging from the cosmetic, such as hair and eye color, to the medically important, such as susceptibility to disease and response to treatments.

Being able to rapidly detect biological agents is among the most difficult and yet urgent tasks facing the nation. Whether the threat is from a natural outbreak or a terrorist's release of threat agents, medical treatment cannot effectively begin without first identifying the bioagent. At the same time, effective understanding and response to a biological threat requires rapid communication across the health-care system.

As researchers around the world completed sequencing the human genome, scientists and researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are setting their sights on a next logical step: understanding the function and complex interactions of the products of these genomes.

Proteins are the biological workhorses that make life possible. They provide structure, synthesize complicated chemicals, control the ability to move, help transmit neural impulses and perform countless other biological demands. Their ability to function properly is intimately tied to their structure—a complex arrangement of twists, loops, spirals and folds. Understanding this molecular origami is crucial in developing a fundamental understanding of molecular biology, designing disease-fighting drugs and repairing malfunctioning proteins.

Life’s molecules are made up from chemical building blocks that can be synthesized in a laboratory. The ability to synthesize these molecular components is extremely important in the quest for understanding the structures and functions of the biological macromolecules, DNA, RNA and proteins.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is collaborating on a new tool that will provide public health officials with an early warning and response system for threats to public health.

A unique molecular biology study of endangered Mexican spotted owls nesting in the Jemez Mountains near Los Alamos National Laboratory is being conducted in the Lab's Bioscience Division and has revealed valuable information about levels of genetic diversity present within the owl population.

A rapidly growing field of research, recognized by a 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry, focuses on electrically conductive plastic, once thought to be an impossibility.

A project that uses modern biotechnology to produce plants that grow faster, are more robust and contain more protein is ongoing in Los Alamos National Laboratory's Bioscience Division. The project stems from the discovery of a naturally occurring plant metabolite that allows plants to regulate their own nitrogen metabolism rates, resulting in plants that reach peak growth more rapidly because they fix more carbon dioxide.