We have arranged for a series of Sci-Fi films to be shown at the Alamo with attendant expert analysis by TTU faculty. Experts in the subject matter will explore the real science in the film, without Ruining The Movie (unless the movie really has it coming). This month, on April 18th, Dr. Victoria Sutton will review the movie "The Andromeda Strain", based on the book by Michael Crichton.



Dr. Victoria Sutton is a Horn Professor, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, and Director of the Center for Biodefense, Law, and Public Policy. She served as Chief Counsel for the Research and Innovative Technology Administration under President George W. Bush, Assistant Director in the White House Science Office under President George H.W. Bush, as Executive Director of the Ronald Reagan Institute for Emergency Medicine, and was an appointee to the Governor Rick Perry Texas Council on Key Resources and Critical Infrastructure Council for her expertise in biodefense law.



She will discuss how the government responds to an outbreak of highly infectious disease, for example as an act of bioterrorism, and how the movie The Andromeda Strain lives up to "best practices".



The Andromeda Strain is an award winning movie based on the book of the same name by Michael Crichton. The storyline provided by IMDB: "When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico, are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. Many years prior to this incident, a group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill) advocated for the construction of a secure laboratory facility that would serve as a base in the event an alien biological life form was returned to Earth from a space mission. Stone and his team - Drs. Dutton, Leavitt and Hall (David Wayne, Kate Reid, and James Olson, respectively)- go to the facility, known as Wildfire, and try to first isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont (an old wino and a six-month-old baby) survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device should it manage to escape."

