Nanocapusle Coatings Utilizing Biomolecules to Detect and Nano MgO-Cl2 adduct to Neutralize the Biological Agents

The interest in the Phase II project on nanocapsules of biomolecules and nanomaterial lies in its ability to act as dual functionality like detection and neutralization simultaneously. Significant effort have been made by the defense as well as commercial sectors, however, there is no technology till now to provide dual functionality. During Phase I research, systematic studies on preparation of nano-size MgO and MgO-Cl2 adduct and encapsulation of these nanomaterials in liposomes was carried out. Furthermore, a few strains of bacteria (PAO1, PDO300, and S. aureus) were investigated in presence of different concentration of MgO and MgO-Cl2. It was observed that higher concentration of these nanomaterials inhibit the growth of bacteria, whereas at very dilute concentration, it attenuates the growth. The findings obtained during Phase I demonstrated the feasibility of nanocapsules of biomolecules and nanomaterial MgO-Cl2 adduct to detect and neutralize the biological agents. Results achieved in Phase I research suggest that there is considerable merit to further research and development of the approach. This technology has application not only for defense purpose but for food industry too. In Phase II, our effort will be to modify the surface of liposomes for the attachment of biotinylated and fluorescent antibodies for the detection of bacteria and use the encapsulated MgO-Cl2 material for neutralization of bacteria. A smart coating of nanocapsule will be applied on various substrates with the help of "Avidin-Biotin" complexation. Detection and neutralization test for smart coating will be performed by using anthrax model systems to prove the feasibility of our method.