The Demon in the Freezer

“When he was younger, some of his colleagues at the Institute called him ‘The Golden Boy of USAMRIID’ because of his blond hair and his apparent luck in making interesting discoveries about viruses. He has an angular way of moving his arms and legs, a gawky posture, and it gives him the look of a science geek” 

This early depiction of Peter Jahrling calls attention to Jahrling’s exceptional work as a researcher. However, Preston also uses physical description to present Jahrling on a human level; within Preston’s account, Jahrling indeed can feel more like a character in a novel than a name attached to a research résumé.

“There is probably a piece of paper sitting in a classified safe at USAMRIID—I have no idea of knowing this for certain—containing a list of nations and groups that the CIA believes either have clandestine stocks of smallpox or are trying actively to get the virus”

Although he often relies on personal anecdote and first-person commentary, Preston—for all his involvement—is not completely in command of the facts. He is not by any means a lax researcher; he is simply dealing with areas of government and research activity that rely on information that is kept clandestine or unclear for strategic purposes.

“Viruses are the smallest forms of life. They are parasites that multiply inside the cells of their hosts, and they cannot multiply anywhere else”

Here as elsewhere, Preston incorporates hard science into his narrative through clear, accessible explanations. Yet, The Demon in the Freezer is not always so straightforward: indeed, Preston lucidly defines what a virus is in order to move on, later, to discuss some of the mysteries and ethical dilemmas surrounding viruses and virus research.

“Most of the people who broke with smallpox were patients and staff from the second and third floors of St. Walberga, and almost none of them had seen Peter Los’s face”

This description of the Meschede outbreak calls attention to one of the most frightening features of smallpox transmission. Because variola can be borne along on the air, and can find its victims using hard-to-predict routes, avoiding simple forms of exposure such as avoiding face-to-face contact with an infected person are not reliable safeguards.

"Peter Los gave variola to seventeen people. Thus, the initial multiplier of the disease was seventeen. Then the multiplier dropped dramatically under the effect of vaccinations and quarantine, and went quickly to zero”

Through the use of traditional and straightforward methods such as “vaccinations and quarantine,” medical professionals can effectively limit the damage inflicted by variola. The efforts against the outbreak linked to Peter Los were a victory for science—but Preston still uses vivid, saddening descriptions of the victims to show that even such an important overall victory was achieved with some casualties.

“There is something impressive about the trans-species jump of a virus. The event seems random yet full of purpose, like an unfurling of wings or a flash of stripes as a predator makes a rush”

With this simile, Preston uses the imagery of a “predator” to underscore the danger of a trans-species virus jump. Such jumps are both overpowering and unexpected, upending usual classifications and forcing researchers to rethink prevention methods once a virus has found a new host species.

“Larry Brilliant’s trips to New Delhi were a small part of the guru’s continuing effort to help India realize its future. The uprooting of smallpox, in the view of the guru, was the duty of India and was the world’s destiny”

Even in its early stages, the Eradication initiative was seen as a humanitarian effort—and not just by the American and European researchers involved. Neem Karoli Baba, the guru who guided Larry Brilliant, was convinced that eradicating the disease would be valuable in ensuring social progress in India and in countries well beyond.

“A freezer with a few vials of smallpox in it could become a biological time bomb” 

In a succinct manner, this quotation sums up the threat that smallpox poses, should it ever break out of containment. Preston’s words also set the ground for one of the most dramatic sequences in The Demon in the Freezer: on September 11, 2001, the CDC is evacuated for fear that its smallpox freezer could become the first “time bomb” of its kind.

“This was clearly the most successful biological-weapons program on earth, yet these people just sat there and lied to us, and lied, and lied” 

The Russians created the advanced bioweapons program that Davis is describing here in a tone of exasperation. Though the United States abandoned its bioweapons aspirations in the 1960s, other nations did not follow suit and did not see bioweapons as a similar existential threat.

“The Russians themselves have told us that they lost control of their smallpox. They aren’t sure where it went, but they think it migrated to North Korea”

With this quote, Zelicoff calls attention to the potential for instability and uncertainty that haunts smallpox research. The danger that smallpox stores will leave even a secure, sanctioned arrangement and make their way to nations that may have hostile intentions—such as North Korea—may remain a threat so long as smallpox stores are maintained anywhere.

“The likelihood that the virus would be used as a weapon is diminished by a global commitment to destroy it. How much it is diminished I don’t know. But it adds a level of safety”

The driving force behind the Eradication project, Henderson devoted the years after Eradication to promoting the destruction of extant smallpox stores. For him, such destruction would be a constructive gesture, and would send a message about the liability to civilization that smallpox poses.

“She saw that a tiny droplet of the sea was an ecosystem packed with life. She told her parents that she wanted to be a marine biologist, and at the age of twelve, she was certified as a diver”

Hensley’s research is of scientific importance, but Preston is also determined to depict the woman behind that research on an intensely human level. Here, he describes Hensley’s upbringing, interests, and inspiration—ultimately showing how the story of her life can illuminate her work in the “ecosystem” of diseases and viruses.

“The mind goes sticky in a moment of fear. She blanked. She couldn’t remember what she had been doing with her hands. There was nobody to ask”

In describing Lisa Hensley’s possible exposure to Ebola, Preston offers a precise evocation of the young scientist’s thoughts, feelings, and anxieties. Preston has already presented her life in detail appropriate to that of a main character in a novel, and here he continues this “novelistic” approach by portraying the workings of Hensley’s consciousness.

“Jahrling stared at the poster. He got the point of it right away: the Australians had engineered a poxvirus that could overwhelm the vaccine, and they’d done it by putting a single gene from the mouse into the virus”

Preston emphasizes one of the most threatening aspects of poxvirus engineering: its simplicity. There may not be too much of a leap, in terms of technique, between what the Australians did in engineering their laboratory virus and what a bioterrorist could do in engineering a highly destructive version of smallpox.

“Hensley felt a desire for a home life pulling on her. Her twenties were passing, and she wanted to have children someday”

Lisa Hensley has devoted herself to her career, and faces personal disappointments whenever she tries to date fellow scientists. This quotation emphasizes the fact that Hensley wants a lifestyle that is in some way separate from the world of infectious diseases—a lifestyle based on family and children rather than on unremitting pressure and possible danger.

“The purpose of the work in the hot lab was to protect these people from variola, people who probably never thought about the disease and had little idea what it was”

For non-specialist readers, The Demon in the Freezer can be a revelatory look into the world of disease and bioterror. Here, Preston emphasizes that the lifesaving work of Jahrling and others remains unacknowledged by many Americans—although the reader, by now, has been fully alerted to the world of dangers that the hotel guests may never contemplate.

“It really gets to me. But a critical countermeasure to smallpox is going to be antiviral drugs, and the FDA requires testing the drugs on the authentic smallpox virus in an animal”

Jahrling acknowledges that lethal laboratory testing on animals, such as monkeys, is a necessary research maneuver, but also expresses emotional qualms about such work. The trade-off is unfortunate, yet sensible to him; readers, however, may have stronger reservations about the ethics of animal testing than Jahrling does.

“The anthrax cells produce poisons that cause a breathing arrest in their host. Anthrax ‘wants’ its host to drop dead”

Preston offers a concise explanation of how anthrax attacks its animal hosts. While his explanation is scientifically precise, it also relies on clever literary techniques: somewhat as he does in depicting smallpox, he personifies anthrax as a hostile force that “wants” to sow destruction.

“It wouldn’t be true to say that I thought I was doing something wrong. I thought I had done something important. The anthrax was my scientific result. My personal result”

Alibek’s life as a researcher has put him in an unusual ethical position. Anthrax is a deadly biological agent, as Alibek is well aware, yet Alibek himself is determined to see at least some of what he accomplished as pure science—not as purely humanitarian or political in its ramifications.

“Randall Murch, who had created the Hazardous Materials Response Unit, told the group that he thought that, in the end, traditional detective work would solve a biological crime. ‘Ultimately, humans make mistakes’ Murch said” 

Much of The Demon in the Freezer emphasizes the human or personal aspect of scientific research. With this quotation from Murch, Preston calls attention to the fact that a very human characteristic—fallibility—can also play a role in solving crimes of bioterrorism.

“There is no point in my entering a battle where the cards are stacked. I’m playing along with what they’re doing”

A staunch proponent of destroying existing smallpox stores, Henderson has shifted tactics now that his approach has fallen out of favor. He adheres to his principals, but realizes that he cannot put his ideas into action now that Jahrling’s emphasis on using smallpox for new research pursuits has gained ground.

“I spent days with Chen during the time he engineered the mouse supervirus. ‘It’s not difficult to make this virus,’ he said to me one day. ‘You could learn how to do it’”

These short, chilling remarks emphasize a reason that engineered viruses—beyond their ability to spread rapidly and cause panic—are such a fearsome factor in modern science. A supervirus could be engineered by a person with limited expertise, including a non-expert with foul intentions.

“The main thing that stands between the human species and the creation of a supervirus is a sense of responsibility among individual biologists”

Throughout his book, Preston has introduced us to responsible “individual biologists.” Humanity is not entirely safe from smallpox as a bioterror weapon, but some degree of safety can be assured so long as the disease remains mostly in the hands of scientists such as Jahrling and Hensley.