Novel Biochip Device for Rural Community Preparedness of Bioterrorism-Related Disasters

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Rural communities have minimal infrastructure and capability to counteract unexpected bio-terrorist attacks. First, diagnostics of bio-terrorism related diseases remains complicated by the short incubation time and often-minute quantities of agent needed to initiate infection. A rapid, ultra-sensitive and easy to use diagnostic device is still not available. Second, rapid and highly sensitive environmental sampling (water, food, air, etc.) in order to ascertain the presence, or absence, of bio-terrorism related agents remain underdeveloped. The proposed chip can be utilized in biological sample processing for rapid identification of bio-warfare agents in the environment, through monitoring water and air quality. Commercial applications for the proposed chip are most apparent in rapid biological testing, drug discovery and environmental sensing.