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Biology

Tackling big challenges
by tapping Earth’s
living organisms

Researcher Kristie Oxford preparing to centrifuge virus cultures in order to separate the host cells, which are heavier, from the virions, which are lighter. This “crude preparation” of the virus can be used for experiments to understand how viruses infect cells and how those cells react to defend against the virus.

(Photo by Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

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Discovering how biological systems operate could guide how we help grow crops for fuel and food in a warming world. Prevent or contain the next pandemic like Ebola. Help keep our nation’s soldiers healthy in the face of unhealthy or even toxic environments, and serve as a guide for understanding how our planet copes with the unprecedented stress it faces today.

At PNNL, our biology researchers explore these systems to understand their function and how they respond to change. Then we make predictions and even manipulate the systems to take steps toward the greater good.

In environmental systems, for example, we know that the intersection of water and land is a mixing zone teeming with microbial systems that morph in response to changes in climate. And by studying soil cores in different parts of the world, we can align past climate conditions with soil quality to make predictions about their future states.

As we manipulate systems, we look for ways to use them for other purposes. Advanced energy production using natural elements to make fuel is an example. Or development of new technologies to improve human health.

Our investigations generate reams of data—a cause not for confusion but for celebration as they are explored in so many ways. These aren’t details that will simply reside in textbooks for subsequent generations to study. These principles guide what happens in the world every day, all around us.

Put simply, our goal is to design biological solutions that make the world a better place.

We know we can’t do it alone, which is why we partner with other national laboratories, industry, and academia to form complementary teams peppered throughout the world. At any given time, we have researchers pulling test samples from rivers, extracting soil cores from the earth, testing blood samples from the ill, and creating the tiniest of synthetic materials that help us better understand our bodies. 

Top Stories

JUNE 28, 2022
News Release

COVID-19 Fattens Up Our Body’s Cells to Fuel Its Viral Takeover

Read
Invasion of a cell by COVID virus
MAY 16, 2022
Staff Accomplishment

Decoding Protein Interactions with Domain-Aware Machine Learning

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A computer chip linked to a protein
APRIL 26, 2022
Staff Accomplishment

Smith, Teeguarden Awarded ‘Best Paper’ by the Society of Toxicology

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Justin Teeguarden, Jordan Smith
SEE MORE RELATED NEWS

Featured Research

MAY 27, 2022
Research Highlight

Disturbance Legacies Shape Coastal Forest Soil Stability

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Research technicians measure carbon dioxide and methane fluxes
MAY 9, 2022
Research Highlight

Examining the Ecological Assembly of Organic Matter and Microbes

Read
Lake St Clair
MAY 2, 2022
Research Highlight

Ion Filtering Improves Detection of Proteins in Single Cells

Read
FAIMS
SEE MORE RELATED HIGHLIGHTS

Related Divisions

Biological Sciences
Environmental Molecular Sciences Division

Facilities & Centers

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

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