They did a PCR (poly-something chain reaction) and identified bacteria shaped like anthrax. The PCR, aka the Gene Machine, reproduces copies off genetic material.
Although the bacteria look like anthrax, they are doing tests that more specifically test for anthrax.
That would be polymerase. It's an enzyme which breaks nucleic acids into snippets. The basics behind the assay is to locate and ID lots of snippets which resemble snippets of a known source, and then you can with a high probability, claim to have identified something.