A group of scientists at Los Alamos National Lab is using New Mexico's resources to search and study pathogens and learn more about contagious diseases.

The Museum of Southwest Biology is home to nearly 12,000 tissue samples that scientists from the Los Alamos National Lab are studying for pathogens similar to what was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have a huge collection of animal tissue samples spanning all over the world, going back decades,” staff scientist Ethan Romero-Severson told KRQE News. “This is particularly useful because a lot of the diseases that we’ve seen now that we’re most concerned with, like SARS 1 and SARS 2, are so-called zoonotic diseases.”

The National Science Foundation recently created the Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention Program, giving Los Alamos National Lab thousands of dollars to study everything in the museum, according to KRQE News. This grant only lasts for one year; after that, they plan on applying for a second phase.