A Hand-Held System for Live Anthrax Spore Detection

描述（由调查者提供）：2002年一项关于炭疽孢子现场测试准确性的政府研究对这些测试的有效性提出了严重质疑。此外，在一些商业试剂盒中仍在使用的一种DNA标记物被证明也能检测未暴露于炭疽热的土壤样本中常见的其他杆菌。本研究的总体目标是利用我们创新的“试管实验室”（Liat TM）技术，开发一种快速、特异的现场检测方法，用于炭疽芽孢杆菌孢子的早期检测。我们的第一阶段研究已经确定了检测活炭疽芽孢和区分炭疽芽孢杆菌与其他芽孢杆菌的可行性。基于我们对生物防御需求的理解，我们将专注于克服环境样品处理的挑战，并在本II期研究中验证我们的Liat系统用于炭疽检测。这项拟议研究中开发的技术最终将使Liat分子分析仪能够处理环境和医学样本，并进行快速实时PCR检测。我们估计我们的活孢子检测将比目前使用的活孢子检测快4-6倍，灵敏度高100- 1000倍。

DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): A 2002 government study on the accuracy of field tests for anthrax spores casts serious doubt on the validity of these tests. Moreover, one of the DNA markers still being used in some commercial kits was shown to also detect other bacilli commonly found in soil samples that have not been exposed to anthrax. The overall goal of this proposed research is to develop a rapid and specific field assay for early detection of Bacillus anthracis spores using our innovative "Lab-in-a-tube" (Liat TM) technology. Our Phase I research has established the feasibility of detecting viable anthrax spores and of distinguishing Bacillus anthracis from other Bacillus species. Based on our understanding of the biodefense needs, we will focus on overcoming the challenges of environment sample processing and validating our Liat system for anthrax detection in this Phase II study. The technology developed in this proposed research will ultimately enable the Liat Molecular Analyzer to process both environmental and medical samples and perform rapid real-time PCR detection. We estimate that our live spore assay will be 4-6 times faster and 100-1,000 times more sensitive than the live spore assay currently used.