PCR-based Aquatic Microbe Detection in Health Education

描述（由申请人提供）：据估计，全球有超过11亿人无法获得安全饮用水。即使在美国（拥有世界上最安全的饮用水），1997年至1998年期间，超过4000名美国人因饮用水和娱乐用水爆发而患病。去年7月，美国环境保护局（EPA）提议通过提出其长期2强化地表水处理规则来加强对隐孢子虫的保护。卫生教育对公众认识这一影响深远的问题至关重要。先前对教育工作者的市场调查表明，目前的水课堂活动不包括基于DNA的实验。这些教育工作者还表示，这种实验对大多数教育机构来说往往过于昂贵。为了满足这些需求，Edvotek，Inc.申请组织将研究并在第三阶段销售几种用于水中微生物检测的基于询问的教育产品。其中两个是课堂实验，说明检测大肠菌群的显色分析和技术，使用聚合酶链反应（PCR）。在第二阶段提案期间，将研究另外两个教育产品，即PCR实验的扩展。为了解决可负担性问题，Edvotek（R）将完成两个原型低成本热循环仪的开发，用于课堂PCR实验。为了允许来自美国各地的共享远程学习，将开发一个基于Web的数据输入网站。最后，这些实验的教育质量将由教育工作者评估这些产品满足国家科学标准的能力及其对课堂科学的影响来确定。的 这些产品的开发将满足教育界的强烈市场需求。这将提高公众对这一重要健康问题的认识，并为今后建立更好的劳动力队伍奠定基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): It is estimated that, globally, over 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Even in the United States (with the safest drinking water in the world), over 4000 Americans fell ill to drinking water and recreational water outbreaks between 1997 and 1998. Last July, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed to increase protection against Cryptosporidium by proposing its Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule. Health education is essential for public awareness of this far-reaching issue. A previous market survey of educators indicated that current water classroom activities do not include DNA-based experiments. Those same educators also communicated that such experiments were often are prohibitively expensive for most institutions of learning. To address these needs, Edvotek, Inc. the applicant organization, will research and in Phase III market several inquiry-based educational products for microbial detection in water. Two of these are classroom experiments illustrating detection of coliforms by chromagenic assays and techniques using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). During the phase II proposal, two additional educational products, extensions to the PCR experiment, will be researched. To address the issue of affordability, Edvotek(R) will complete development of two prototype low-cost thermal cyclers for the performance of classroom PCR experiments. To allow shared, long-distance learning from various U.S. locations, a Web-based data entry site will be developed. Finally, the educational quality of such experiments will be determined by educator input assessing the ability of these products to meet National Science Standards and their impact to classroom science. The development of these products will address a strong market need in the educational community. This will allow for a greater public awareness of this important health topic and provide the foundation for a better workforce in the future.