In other words, they can infect whatever host animal with which they come in contact. Both contain bacteriophages or plasmids that transfer genetic material into a cell, or from one bacterium to another. Called 'vectors,' ticks and mosquitoes are also genetically similar. Ticks are often carried aloft by birds, and can therefore quickly spread over large swaths of territory. Traub's particular expertise was in disease-carrying insects-in particular, the common tick. However, because the Nazi party promoted so many of its top scientists, Operation Paperclip ended up white-washing the pasts of many of its recruits in order to get them into the U.S.

President Truman approved the project, so long as only nominal Nazi party members without SS affiliation were recruited. government project to recruit German scientists and technicians was known as Operation Paperclip. Along with rocket scientists like Werner von Braun, Traub was spirited out of post-war Germany to help jump-start the Cold War against the Soviet Union. His specialty in the Third Reich was virus and vaccine research. But the government denies anything is wrong.Īlthough the origins of Plum Island are shrouded in secrecy, investigations have revealed the startling fact that, in the 1950s, the lab was run by a German scientist named Erich Traub, who was brought to America after the Second World War. From security breaches in germ labs, to escaped diseases and potential mass epidemics, this is the real Plum Island story. Insiders and ex-employees have come forward to tell their stories. But investigators are beginning to uncover startling new facts about this forbidding place. Its stated purpose is to study animal-borne diseases. government acknowledges that the island is home to a scientific facility. Just ten miles off the coast of Connecticut, this tiny speck of land has long been rumored to be the epicenter of top-secret biowarfare research. Lurking in the dark waters of Long Island Sound is a mysterious place known as Plum Island.

Plum island novel