A new detection system can reveal bioterrorist attacks on our water supply network

 

If pathogens enter into our water supply network many people may fall ill quickly. To protect us against this biological threat, researchers have developed a detection system partly based on nanotechnology that can warn authorities in time.

In the 21st century several countries have suffered great losses after terrorist attacks. Although the risk of bioterrorist attacks or accidental contamination of our water supply network is low, the consequences could be fatal. Researchers connected to DINAMICS (DIagnostic NAnotech and MICrotech Sensors), a project co-funded by the European commission, have made a lab-on-a-chip device that can monitor our drinking water and spot different pathogens even at very low concentrations.

The device uses sensors with very small strands of different pathogenic DNA integrated onto their surfaces to quickly recognize pathogenic DNA from water samples. The DNA in the sensors will only bind to the water samples’ corresponding DNA, multiplied for easier identification. To see what different DNAs are present in the water samples, the researchers apply a reaction called chemiluminescence that will make the bound DNAs emit light. The nanoscale reactions are then interpreted by a computer. The DINAMICS project’s researchers have also developed another type of sensor that changes the bound DNAs into electric signals. The signal’s magnitude is proportional to the quantity of pathogenic DNA from the water sample.

At present, water samples are brought to the laboratory for analysis. The researchers’ goal is to make this step redundant by bringing the laboratory to the water instead, since the device is part of a portable detection system. This would speed up the process substantially. If the system detects a biological threat the authorities can be informed through email or mobile phone.

Another way of spotting accidental or deliberate water contamination has been developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. By also recognizing that existing methods for water analysis are time-consuming they have set up a system called AquaBioTox, which uses living microorganisms. A sensitive camera system continuously records and analyses the microorganisms’ reactions to the water. Even though the researchers have documented a reliable and fast detection of contaminants, to guarantee robustness against false alarm and maximum reliability in diagnosis they recommend that the system is combined with other sensors on the market.

The DINAMICS project is planned to end the last day of March and if the system becomes widely available in the water industry this more cost-efficient way of testing could significantly improve water safety, alone or in combination with other sensors.

Provided by Youris.com (news : web)

Household bleach can decontaminate food prep surfaces in ricin bioterrorist attack

Help for a bioterrorist attack involving ricin, one of the most likely toxic agents, may be as close at hand as the laundry shelf, according to a report presented here today at the 241st National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). It concluded that ordinary household bleach appears to be an effective, low-cost, and widely available way to decontaminate food preparation surfaces in homes, restaurants, and processing plants that are tainted with ricin.

Ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans, which are grown and processed throughout the world to produce castor oil. Although no longer widely used as a laxative, castor oil remains a key raw material in the manufacture of soaps, paints, dyes, inks, lubricants, hydraulic and brake fluids, and other products. Ricin occurs in the waste "mash" left behind after production of castor oil. Because it is so easy to obtain and so toxic, with no antidote, experts regard ricin as one of the most likely bioterror agents.

"This discovery is important because it provides a practical, readily available way to inactivate ricin on food processing equipment in the event of an intentional contamination event," said Lauren Jackson, Ph.D., who reported on the research. "It is the first study to explore ricin decontamination in the presence of food, and it shows that household bleach is effective."

Jackson and colleagues prepared solutions of bleach and two other substances routinely used at food processing plants to disinfect counters, machinery and other surfaces that may contain harmful bacteria or viruses. The other disinfectants were peroxyacetic acid (PAA) and so-called quaternary ammonium compounds. In one set of experiments, they tested the substances on discs of stainless steel smeared with milk-based infant formula, pancake mix, peanut butter and other foods that contained ricin. They also tested the three disinfectants on a "control" solution containing ricin, but without any food, to make sure it was the disinfectants that inactivated ricin and not something present in the foods.

Household bleach turned out to be the most effective anti-ricin agent. Bleach significantly reduced the toxicity of ricin within five minutes, noted Jackson, a research food technologist with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Summit-Argo, Ill. Bleach completely eliminated ricin in the "control" samples using just a small amount of bleach. PAA also showed effectiveness, but less so than bleach.

Provided by American Chemical Society (news : web)