It often happens, he says, that the libraries or research labs like the MCZ will receive a shipment of research specimens from a foreign land, and some unknown insects crawl out. The researchers worry that their books or supplies will be destroyed.
Thus, as part of his daily routine, Alpert commonly receives calls to identify and eliminate insects ranging from some of the most common pests, like clothes moths or carpet beetles, to some of the most exotic. He has dealt with pests, such as Ornithonyssus bacoti, a tropical rat mite; Pollenia ruidis, a form of cluster fly; and a rare species of beetle larva that was found in a shipment of books at the MCZ.
Alpert works at sites all across the campus, but because his office was established only in 1981, he says he has not had time to inspect and treat all the areas of the University suffering from insect problems. "There has been improvement," he notes, "but I've only dealt with a fraction of the University." Until now, most of his work has been done at the medical area, the libraries and some of the University's kitchens. He estimates that he receives about 20 calls a day to do insect identifications.
As biological safety officer of the EHS, Lynn Harding handles jobs ranging from monitoring research of recombinant DNA and gene-splicing to supervising the removal of micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi from any University buildings. Harding's group implements the safety guidelines set by Harvard's bio-safety committee on genetic research, but it does not make any ethical decisions. "These issues haven't really come into play yet, but there may be a day when this will affect us." she notes.
In its present role, the office is more involved in making sure that all the research labs meet federal guidelines, and that the researches are aware of the regulations. For example, Harding says, when a researcher wants to inject a virus into mice he or she must take certain safety precautions so that other researchers as well as other animals in the laboratory are protected.
Characteristic of the work of the biological safety office is their monitoring of a special "P-3" lab constructed in 1977-78. The lab, which features specialized airflow and ventilation, access, and safety procedures is designed for work that is considered potentially hazardous and highly experimental. Safety measures also include a "negative air-pressure" gadget which, in the event of any mishap occurring during an experiment, sucks in the air in the labs to prevent it from leaking outside.
When it was first established, the P-3 lab was used for experiments with human and animal genes that were considered highly dangerous at the time. Currently, the lab is not being used for any "high risk" experiments, yet Harding is quick to add. "If we need to use the lab for this type of work, we are ready to reactivate it."
When Johnson spots a case of contamination, he delivers "a stirring lecture to impress on the person the hazards involved and to tell him to check his hands daily with a geiger counter."