SBIR Phase I: Environmental water on site microbial contaminant sensor

这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是，开发的产品将能够使用支持互联网的智能设备进行本地和远程环境水微生物检测。与目前需要将样品送到实验室进行24小时测试的方法相比，检测可以在30分钟内进行现场监测，以接近采样时间。这项创新涉及一种方法，可以从大量的水中捕获基因并将其浓缩到一种独特的结合材料上，在这种结合材料上对基因进行计数。清洁水对农业灌溉、牲畜、食品加工、娱乐等主要经济部门至关重要，据估计，水检测是一个价值12亿美元的全球市场。开发的水测试可以在全球范围内使用，并通过改善水质管理产生重大的社会影响，特别是在农村或发展中国家，据估计有7.8亿人饮用不安全的水。本一期研究项目的技术目标是推进一种高度创新的技术方法，用于直接在现场检测100毫升环境水中的大肠杆菌或肠球菌污染物，并在30分钟内获得结果。这些微生物是传统的指示生物，可以识别可能不安全的粪便污染的水。这个项目解决的技术障碍是在一杯水中找到低拷贝的细菌，这不仅是水检测所独有的，而且在任何病原体或基因作为检测目标的地方都是一个广泛的问题。完成的研究目标将确认我们的创新策略，从细胞中释放核酸，表征能够捕获和浓缩核酸的固相材料的基本特性，并产生通过盒式磁带的原型流，其中检测特定的基因序列。实现对大容量（100毫升环境水、10毫升血液、食品加工洗涤水等）中经常以低拷贝数存在的病原体的检测是限制测定灵敏度的常见技术障碍。提出的创新方法为这一问题提供了一个潜在的解决方案，并进一步允许直接在现场进行低成本、无仪器的测试，使用手机上传结果即可轻松执行。综合策略是一种新颖的方法，克服了目前所有培养或当前分子方法用于测试环境水的局限性。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is that the product developed will enable local and remote environmental water microbe detection using internet-enabled smart devices. Detection is on-site within 30 minutes to monitor water close to the time it is sampled compared to current methods that require sending the sample to lab that conducts a test that takes 24 hours. The innovation involves a method to capture and concentrate genes from large volumes of water onto a unique binding material where they are counted. Clean water is critical to major economic sectors such as farm irrigation, livestock, food processing, and recreation and water testing is estimated to be a 1.2 billion dollar global market. The water test developed could be used in global settings and have a significant societal impact through improved water quality management especially in rural or developing country settings where is estimated that 780 million people consume unsafe water. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are to advance a highly innovative technical approach for direct in the field detection of E. coli or Enterococcus contaminants in 100 milliliters of environmental water with results available in 30 minutes. These microbes are traditional indicator organisms that identify water with fecal contamination that could be unsafe. The technical hurdle addressed in this project which is finding low copies of bacteria present in a glass of water is not unique to water testing but is also an issue broadly anywhere pathogens or genes are a targets of detection. The research objectives to be completed will confirm our innovative strategy to release nucleic acids from cells, characterize fundamental properties of solid phase materials capable of capture and concentration of nucleic acids, and produce a prototype flow through cassette where specific gene sequences are detected. Achieving detection of pathogens that frequently are present in low copy numbers in large volumes (100 milliliters of environmental water, 10 milliliters of blood, food processing wash water, etc.) is a common technical hurdle that limits assay sensitivity.The innovative approach proposed provides a potential solution to this issue and further permits testing directly on site with a low cost, non-instrumented test that is easy to perform with result upload using a cell phone. The integrated strategy is a novel approach that overcomes the limitations of all current culture or current molecular methods for testing environmental water.