ER Frontlines SCIENCEBUSINESSNATURETECHNOLOGYCULTUREPOLITICS I EARTHY SECRETS Now night BA battens b. &Wetted by global warming') Canada's new Biotron superlab contains miniature chunks of the natural world that will help us predict the impact of climate change on living organisms BY LINDSAY BORTH

t will allow researchers to recreate and study how a com- plete ecosystem, such as Arctic tundra or boreal forest, responds to climate change. The Biotron, Hither says. is 'as close as you can get to nature lin a labl." The Biotron will help integrate biology into the scientific study of global war

he Biotron may call to mind Biosphere 2, the large artificial habitat plopped down 20 years ago in the Arizona desert, where 14 onearth WINTER 2008 Biotron’s climate chambers can be varied from —40 degrees Fahr- enheit to 122 degrees, to simulate anything from the Arctic winter to a tropical rainforest.