By the summer of 1984, of course, Francis’s lab technicians were working with large quantities of the deadly LAV as well as large amounts of tissue from AIDS patients. His antiquated laboratories, however, did not have an autoclave to sterilize pans and instruments. Instead, technicians carried their contaminated trays and instruments down a hallway to another lab for cleaning. Doing this required the workers to precariously balance their materials in one hand while they turned the doorknob with their contaminated lab gloves. In the summer of 1984, Francis’s problems with doorknobs came to
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