Detection of Decomposing Threat Agents

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The preparative work for producing biological threat agents is often disguised using a variety of methods, from heat, to treatment with bleach, to flooding the area with a common nonpathogenic organism. Detection has focused on the presence of native materials, such as DNA or proteins. A variety of agents will be subjected to reagents and new methods used to stabilize cells to preserve potential macromolecular analytes for identification. The antibody recognition results of toxins that have been heat-modified will be characterized and generalized. A related problem is seen from environmental samples, where agents such as heat, sunlight or high salinity may have the same effect. A further study on selective agents and the recovery of specific signatures will enable the development of new forensic assays. In many instances, consideration of the exact mechanism of modification can give clues for the maintenance of detectable levels of macromolecules of interest. The broad applicability and utility of the research in environmental science and threat assessment is noted.