DEVICE FOR RAPID GENE DETECTION OF MULTIPLE BIO-AGENTS

Alderon Biosciences, Inc., Beaufort NC

Investigators

Abstract

Despite our progress in combatting infectious diseases during the 20th century, many of those diseases still represent major threats. Moreover, we now have the technical capability to render those diseases even more dangerous, and the potential for biological agents to be used as weapons has become all too real. Military and civilian personnel alike are at risk. The U.S. is especially susceptible to diseases thought to have been eradicated-- e.g., plague or smallpox. To prepare for this threat, NIH has called for "techniques for rapid identification of natural and bioengineered microbes." Medical personnel civil defense workers, and military personnel need to be able to rapidly detect and identify multiple infectious diseases/agents and biological threats in "real time" in primary/triage medical situations and in field settings. That important capability is not yet available. AndCare proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of developing an instrument for rapid electrochemical detection of the molecular signatures of hazardous microbes. In developing the technique needed to render this new instrument practical, traditional time- and effort-consuming microbial plating and culture methods will be replaced by simplified electrochemical gene-probe assays. The instrument will be designed to accommodate existing gene probes and next-generation assay technologies. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: Phase I/Phase II success will result in prototype instruments based on a technique that employs sensor-array chips for detection and identification of multiple agents. The instruments will be lightweight and easy to use. They will eliminate the need for microbial culture methods, electrophoresis, and optical detection systems. The potential civilian/military market for this next-generation microbial detection instrument is substantial. Moreover, the more-general medical-diagnostics market that is addressed by this new technology likely exceeds $1 billion/yr.