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SARS Genetic Code Identified By Laurie Garrett STAFF WRITER April 15, 2003 Two laboratories in the United States and Canada have figured out the complete genetic code of the virus suspected of causing the respiratory disorder SARS, a step essential to developing diagnostic tests and treatments. The findings are remarkable because of their speed - by comparison, it took nearly three years to find the virus that causes AIDS and another two years to determine its full genetic sequence - and their almost letter-for-letter similarity. The CDC's genomic sequence is longer than the Canadians' by only 15 genetic letters, or nucleotides - a mere blip in the virus' total of 29,736 nucleotides. The makeup of a virus is expected to vary slightly by geographic region. But coupled with optimism that the finding can serve as a road map for developing diagnostic tests, drug development and a vaccine is the continuing mystery: The virus is completely different from any kno...

7 Iraqis Killed In Checkpoint Tragedy March 31, 2003 (CBS/AP) "It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen, and I hope I never see it again." Sgt. Mario Manzano (CBS) U.S. troops killed at least seven Iraqi women and children at a checkpoint Monday when the Iraqis' van would not stop as ordered, U.S. Central Command said. Two other civilians were wounded at a U.S. Army checkpoint on a highway near Najaf in southern Iraq, according to a Pentagon official and a Central Command statement. The military is investigating, the statement said. The soldiers involved were from the 3rd Infantry Division, the same unit that lost four soldiers at a checkpoint near Najaf Saturday when an Iraqi soldier dressed as a civilian detonated a car bomb. The seven dead and two wounded on Monday were among 13 women and children in a van that approached the checkpoint but did not stop, according to the Central Command statement. It said soldiers motioned for t...