Cheryl Gleasner, a research technologist at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory, works with a genome sequencing machine
designed for disease surveillance. Since the SARS epidemic in
2003, advances in sequencing technologies have greatly speed up
the ability to detect and track a new virus. Credit BSIP / UIG
via Getty Images Coronaviruses get their name from the crown-
like tentacles that surround their rims. Credit Courtesy of
Health Protection Agency. The new coronavirus has been
tentatively named London1_novel CoV 2012. A small piece of its
genome tells researchers how closely related the virus is to
other known coronavirus, such as SARS. In January, NPR and
ProPublica reported on a potential conflict of interest at
Freddie Mac, a mortgage giant sponsored by the federal
government. The stories noted that even as Freddie Mac was
writing rules making it harder for homeowners to refinance their
mortgages, it also was stepping up investments in securities
that gain when homeowners remain stuck in high-rate loans.