Despite our progress in combating infectious diseases during the last century, many of those diseases still represent major threats. Moreover, we now have the technical capability to render those diseases even more dangerous, and the potential for biological agents to be used as weapons has become all too real. Military and civilian personnel alike are at risk. The U.S. is especially susceptible to diseases thought to have been eradicated--e.g., plague or smallpox. To prepare for this threat, NIH has called for """"""""techniques for rapid identification of natural and bioengineered microbes. """""""" Medical personnel, civil defense workers, and military personnel need to be able to rapidly detect and identify multiple infectious diseases/agents and biological threats in """"""""real time"""""""" in primary/triage medical situations and in field settings. That important capability is not yet available. In the successful Phase I project AndCare demonstrated the feasibility of developing a system for rapid gene probe / electrochemical detection of the molecular signatures of hazardous microbes. In Phase II work AndCare will develop the portable instruments and disposable sensor elements needed to render this simple new system practical and position it to substantially replace traditional time- and effort-consuming PCR, microbial plating, and culture methods. The expected result is an assay system that can detect sub-picomolar concentrations of Bio-Agents in clinically relevant matrices.
