October 25, 2002

Toxic Science

By RICHARD MONASTERSKY

Fish-killing microbe has researchers in a feeding frenzy

If the microbe known as Pfiesteria had a brain -- and a set of vocal cords -- it would no doubt laugh out loud at how scientists, universities, and federal agencies have been sniping at one another in recent months.

Sometimes called "the cell from hell," Pfiesteria has been linked to the deaths of more than a billion fish along the East Coast over the past decade. Some watermen have also blamed the microbe for

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