Development of low cost and user friendly assay for quality assurance of safe drinking water

最近世界范围内水媒疾病的暴发是一个鲜明的提醒，当前的治疗/监测 技术不足以保护公众健康不受水传播疾病的影响。虽然已经有了 在发展提供安全饮用水的处理技术方面取得了重大进展，但仍有一个 肯定需要更好的工具来监测受污染的饮用水造成的潜在疾病。 许多研究人员正在致力于开发在线传感器或饮酒早期预警系统 自来水供应商。使用中的许多传感器都依赖于浊度和氯等指示剂的测量 水质证据的水平。目前的病原体特异性监测技术是不可重现的 或者效率。此外，对于许多小社区来说，它们太贵了，无法进行监测 竞选活动。罗伯茨博士和她的团队与Hyperion Research Ltd的彼得·沃利斯博士合作，目标是 最难测量的生物体是原生动物病原体贾第虫和隐孢子虫。这项建议 描述了合作的第一阶段，即开发一种确定隐孢子虫是否 而存在于水样中的贾第鞭毛虫在紫外线照射下会受到足够的破坏，以至于它们不能 繁殖，因此变得不可生存。我们建议将目前的全细胞免疫荧光 一种测量细胞中DNA损伤的方法，依赖于显微镜评估，到一种 可以在试管或96孔板中进行。这将使我们能够快速评估 使用标准或新开发的过滤器捕获的隐孢子虫和贾第鞭毛虫 技术。Hyperion和加拿大将从这项研究中受益，因为 新的方法以及通过这种改进的方法来保护公众健康。

Recent worldwide waterborne disease outbreaks are a stark reminder that current treatment/monitoring technologies are not sufficient to protect the public health from water borne diseases. While there has been significant progress in the development of treatment technologies to provide safe drinking water, there is still a definite need for better tools to monitor water for potential diseases caused by contaminated drinking water. Many researchers are working towards the development of online sensors or early warning systems for drinking water suppliers. Many of the sensors in use rely on the measurement of indicators such as turbidity and chlorine levels for evidences of water quality. The current pathogen specific monitoring techniques are not reproducible or efficient. In addition, they are too expensive for many small communities to use to conduct a monitoring campaign. Dr. Roberts and her team have partnered with Dr. Peter Wallis of Hyperion Research Ltd, targeting the hardest to measure organisms, the protozoan pathogens Giardia and Cryptosporidium. This proposal describes the first stage of the collaboration, the development of an assay to determine if the Cryptosporidium and Giardia present in water samples are sufficiently damaged by exposure to UV light that they cannot reproduce and are thus rendered nonviable. We propose to convert the current whole cell immunofluorescent method for measuring DNA damage in cells, which is dependent on microscopic evaluation, to an assay that can be performed in a test tube or 96 well plate. This will allow a rapid assessment of the viability of Cryptosporidium and Giardia that have been captured using standard or newly developed filtration technologies. Hyperion and Canada will benefit from this research through the commercial application of the new methods as well as through this improved method for the protection of public health.