Benjamin Bratt, Rick Schroder, Eric McCormack, Christa Miller, Andre Braugher, Daniel Dae Kim, Viola Davis and Ted Whittall have signed on to star in the A&E original miniseries "The Andromeda Strain," it was announced today by A&E Network. Production commenced July 3 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The four-hour miniseries is written by Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Schenkkan and is based on Michael Crichton's best-selling debut novel.

A deadly bacteria code named The Andromeda Strain - is let loose after a U.S. government satellite crash-lands in Utah. The bacteria unleashes a lethal plague that wipes out an entire town leaving only two survivors - an old man and an infant to provide clues to immunizing the population. As the military tries to contain the spreading disaster, only a hastily assembled team of scientists can hope to find a cure and stop the Andromeda Strain from spreading.

Benjamin Bratt stars as Dr. Jeremy Stone, an epidemiologist who heads up the team of scientists assembled to stop The Andromeda Strain from spreading.

Eric McCormack stars as Jack Nash, an investigative reporter for NNT who struggles to control his addictive personality.

Rick Schroder stars as Major Bill Keene, MD, a virologist from the Army's Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease.

Christa Miller stars as Dr. Angela Noyce, a surgeon, exobiologist and specialist in Tropical and Exotic diseases.

Andre Braugher stars as General George Mancheck a US Army Biochemical Research officer.

Daniel Dae Kim stars as Dr. Tsi Chou, a microbiologist who once served as the premiere biological weapons designer for the North Korean government and now is a US-based bio-terrorism consultant.

Viola Davis stars as Dr. Charlene Barton a pathologist formerly of the Centers for Disease Control now at the San Francisco health department.

Ted Whittall stars as President Dale Scott, a Southern conservative nearing the end of his first term.