This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop and optimize a novel, portable and easy-to-use nanotech-enabled device for rapid water microbial contamination detection. Unlike current methods which require at least 24 hours to obtain a result, this nanofluidics device will be able to produce a rapid, sensitive and specific diagnostic test for E. coli, other microbe contamination in a real-time, point-of-use fashion. The broader/commercial impacts of this research is to enable real-time, rapid and accurate water quality monitoring, much better than what current techniques can offer. This platform technology has several other applications for food safety and medical diagnostics that will have a significant impact on public health and safety, eliminating costly delays, expensive infrastructure and user training.
Nanobiosym, Inc. has successfully demonstrated that detection of E. coli DNA could be reliably performed in a mobile device using purchased, purified water as a starting sample. We were able to demonstrate that detection could be reliably performed in purified water samples. We further demonstrated feasibility that we can quantify the amount of bacterial or viral load in our mobile device platform. Also, we demonstrated feasibility of using our mobile device platform as a monitoring tool for different types of water samples, including bottled drinking water, local tap water, and local unpurified river water. This data helped to establish proof-of-concept that our technology can be utilized in multiple contexts and applications where the quantification of microbial load is useful. We went on in Phase IB to successfully demonstrate feasibility of our on-chip detection of E. coli DNA in various commercial beverages and to develop strong relationships with some of the leading beverage companies and to engage them in helping us to think through how our technology could be best adapted and customized to meet their microbial contamination testing needs. The intellectual merit of this project is the ability to monitor contamination in various fluid samples in real-time at low cost without the standard laboratory infrastructure that is traditionally required. Nanobiosym is an innovation engine dedicated to creating a new science that emerges from the holistic integration of physics, biomedicine, and nanotechnology. Nanobiosym focuses on incubating transformational technologies that have the potential for game-changing impact and commercializing and scaling up these technologies for deployment in developed and developing world markets. Nanobiosym leverages science and technology to address our planet’s greatest unmet needs in global health, energy and the environment. Nanobiosym has a strong commitment to maximize global humanitarian impact. We have spearheaded the Nanobiosym Global Initiative, which is building innovative public-private partnerships with governments, NGO’s, academic, industrial and global thought leaders to help bring emerging technologies to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Nanobiosym is also committed to presenting its findings at national and international meetings, as well as delivering reports on innovation, patents, and industrial policy to diverse publics and groups. The broader/commercial impact of this project is the ability of our Gene-RADAR® diagnostic device to provide accurate information regarding the quantitative bacterial or viral load in a sample, which would be important in a number of applications. For example, in the context of water testing it would be important to be able to determine the absolute titer of bacteria in the drinking water supply, the recreational water supply, and in a production/bottling line in the food and beverage industry, in order to understand the relative health risk to the public while avoiding unnecessary restrictions on use.
