The overall goal of our pathogen detection program is to create field-deployable instruments and assays for the detection of biological threats. The recent use of a lethal microorganism as a weapon of terror has increased awareness of the importance of ceaseless vigilance against biological agents of warfare and terror. Our current challenge is to develop highly sensitive and specific assays for detection of biological agents of warfare and terror that can be performed rapidly in the field, on a rugged, portable instrument. We plan to evaluate the feasibility of using immuno-PCR as a method for detection of non-nucleic acid targets in our prototype instrument. Existing immuno-PCR techniques will be adapted to a magnetic particle format compatible with the bead-handling fluidics system that comprises the core of our instrument. The ability of bead-based immuno-PCR to detect whole cells and non-nucleic acid cell components will be examined using a model pathogen provided by academic collaborators at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Methods of encoding antibody identity in immuno-PCR DNA tags will be tested, and if successful, the ability of tag-encoded immuno-PCR to enable detection of a multiplicity of different targets in a single sample will be examined using the multiplex detection stage of our prototype device.
