A Fever, a PCR Test, and Life in a Hot Spring
An example of one thing science funding made possible
It started with a fever.
My second baby, our daughter Adelaide, was only three weeks old. She was just learning to stretch, see and exist outside of my body. She had started showing some symptoms of being sick, and I noticed she was struggling to eat. When I kissed her forehead that morning, I immediately could tell she was too hot. I checked her temperature – 102°F. My heart sank. I knew an emergency department visit was coming because at this age a fever is considered an emergency.
We connected with a provider, who confirmed that we needed to bring Addie to the emergency department.
The hospital team was ready when we arrived. A nurse gently ushered us into a room that soon filled as they drew her blood, took a nasal swab, and finally had to do a spinal tap. I held Addie’s hand and cried as they poked and prodded her. It was one of the hardest moments I faced as a newly postpartum mom.
This may seem overblown to you, but at this age, a newborn’s immune system is still learning how to work. This meant any infection could spiral quickly and become dangerous. As a scientist, my mind raced through all of the terrifying possibilities: bacterial meningitis, sepsis, HSV, and a virus I’d just seen the CDC issue an alert about – parechovirus. Cases were abnormally high that summer, and the outbreak had recently taken the life of a newborn. There’s no treatment for it – just time, support, and hoping the baby can fight it off.
I desperately needed to know what was making her sick, because that information would shape everything. It would tell us how long we might be in the hospital, what treatments or care were needed, and how scared we really needed to be.
How we figured it out
Addie’s samples were sent to the lab, and eventually, one test came back positive – parechovirus. She did, in fact, have the virus that was recently covered in the headlines. But her case was thankfully mild. We went home after 2–3 days, and she fully recovered and is about to turn THREE!
While knowing what the cause was didn’t change her care in this case, it did help me mentally to know what we were dealing with. This information was possible thanks to a lab technique called PCR, also known as polymerase chain reaction.
What is PCR?
PCR is like a copy machine for genetic material (the directions to make life). All you need is a small amount of DNA or RNA. Then, PCR* can make millions to billions of copies of the specific part that you’re interested in. You can think about it like making a hundred copies of just your favorite poem from a book of poetry.
This is what makes PCR so useful. Because we can make tons of copies we can use PCR to detect HIV in a blood sample, or COVID-19 from a nasal swab. It’s one way we can determine if someone has a drug-resistant bacterial infection. It’s how we were able to get enough DNA to sequence the first human genome (which led to so many other discoveries related to human health). It’s how we can tell if someone has a genetic mutation linked to disease or to increased cancer risk. And more.
PCR works by copying the DNA through cycles of heating and cooling. The heat is really important; it helps separate the two strands that normally make up DNA so they can each be copied.
When PCR was first invented, the need for heat was a big problem. The hot temperature kept destroying the tools needed to make more DNA copies (think of it like burning them to a crisp). This made it hard for PCR to work, and it took a long time to make enough copies.
Luckily, through science we had a solution.
A Journey to Yellowstone
In the late 1960s, scientist Thomas Brock and his student Hudson Freeze were studying the microbes that live in extreme environments. Their work was supported by the federal government through the National Science Foundation (NSF).
They went to Yellowstone National Park, where they took samples from the boiling waters within the hot springs.
Amazingly, they found that some microbes could actually live there! They found a bacterium that was able to survive these hot temperatures and named it Thermus aquaticus.
This work may seem kind of unimportant at first – why do we care about microbes that don’t live where we do? It seemed to just be an amazing example of how life can adapt, but it ended up being much more.
Bacteria reproduce too
The bacteria found in the hot springs needed to reproduce to survive. To do so, it had to be able to make copies of its DNA. This meant it had protein tools (officially known as enzymes) to do this.
Eventually, scientists put all this information together. They were able to take the enzyme (called Taq polymerase) responsible for helping copy the DNA in Thermus aquaticus, and use it in PCR. This removed the challenges due to heat and led to the successes that have since made PCR reliable, efficient, and adaptable.
From curiosity to worldwide impact
What’s amazing about this story is that this advancement needed for PCR didn’t begin with a goal to diagnose disease, solve crimes, or understand parentage. It started with a question that some people may have said was a waste of time – what, if anything, can live in boiling water?
Brock and Freeze were simply exploring life. But, by doing this, they laid the foundation for a technique that would transform biology, medicine, and genetics.
PCR is a perfect example of how federally funded scientific research can lead to discoveries that have huge unforeseen human benefit.
Why does this matter?
Right now, the structure and support needed to conduct scientific research in the USA is being destroyed (see prior post here, and here).
In the 1960s, we could never imagine how a bacterium that could survive the hot springs of Yellowstone would help someone find out they carry a BRCA mutation in time to get preventative cancer care.
We do not know what work being done right now could change society or the life of someone you love in the future. This is why funding for scientific research matters. In it, we find hope and answers for a better tomorrow. But to have the answer you need for your sick child in 10 years, we need to fund science now.
What can you do?
If you care about this, then please DO something.
Contact your representatives. For information on how to do this, go here.
Tell your friends why science matters to you.
Share trusted voices online. I see too many who have no idea any of this is happening to science in this country. You can help amplify so this information gets pushed to others.
*Note: PCR has been adapted to different purposes since its original form. But none would be possible without this foundational work.
Do you live in Downeast Maine?
If you live in Maine come see me as I host a science storytelling event this coming Weds, June 11th from 6-7:30 PM at Fogtown Brewing in Ellsworth, ME! The event is free and open to the public. For more details see the graphic below or go here.
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I have been following forums with people from biotechnology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, etc. and they are full of anxiety due to the funding cuts by the government.
Now is NOT the time to give up on biology, medicine, etc.
We are currently in one of the most important biological science revolutions, and I refuse to let uninformed ideologues ruin this moment in history.
I really hope China, Europe and the rest of the world pick up the deficit in research. The research must continue, regardless of the country it is in.
Soooo interesting! Such a great example of the importance of curiosity, funding, and direction! Among other things 😊