SBIR Phase I: Rapid Detection of Fecal Contamination in Drinking Water

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目涉及一种新颖、快速和具有成本效益的供水粪便污染检测系统。2006年9月爆发的O157：H7大肠杆菌血清型是更好的水安全筛查的例证，O157：H7是一种在粪便中发现的病原体，可追溯到加利福尼亚州菠菜污染。在几个州发现了食物中毒事件，迫使食品和药物管理局和疾病控制中心等机构做出反应，以保护公众。虽然现有的方法可以检测水样中的粪便污染，但在灵敏度、准确性和速度方面还需要改进。这项建议描述了一种新型传感器技术的改进，该技术使用昆虫化学传感蛋白(CSP)作为识别元件，用于快速、灵敏的生物传感器，以检测水样中极低水平的粪便污染，并可用于家庭或工业。这项研究的更广泛影响是作为一种平台技术，直接应用于环境、化学或生物化合物或污染物的检测，包括有害挥发性有机化合物(VOC)的检测、食品和药品的质量控制以及武器或爆炸物中存在的挥发性化合物的检测。因此，所利用的平台技术可立即应用于影响众多行业、公共安全和公共健康的各种重要传感器和检测器实施。在此描述的应用“用于监测水安全的粪便污染检测器”仅是可能的应用的一个例子。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project concerns a novel, rapid and cost-effective detection system for fecal contamination in water supplies. The need for better water safety screening is exemplified by the outbreak of E. coli serotype O157:H7, a pathogen found in fecal matter, in September, 2006 that was traced to contamination of spinach in California. Food poisonings were noted in several states, necessitating responses from agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control to protect the public. Although existing methods can detect fecal contamination in water samples, improvements are needed in sensitivity, accuracy, and speed. This proposal describes the refinement of a novel sensor technology that uses insect chemosensory proteins (CSPs) as recognition elements for fast, sensitive biosensors to detect very low levels of fecal contamination in water samples and can be used at home or in industry.The broader impacts of this research are as a platform technology with direct applications in the detection of environmental, chemical, or biological compounds or contaminants, including the detection of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs), quality control of foods and pharmaceuticals and the detection of volatile compounds present in weapons or explosives.. Thus, the utilized platform technology has immediate application to a variety of important sensor and detector implementations that affect numerous industries, public safety, and public health. The application described herein "A fecal contamination detector for monitoring water safety", is only one example of the applications possible.