Determination of the Mechanisms for the Plasma Deactivation of Biomaterials

Based on several experimental results during Phase I, MicroEnergy Technologies has analyzed and sequenced the protein that initially leaves Bacillus bacteria that reveals deactivation of spores. We are proposing a unique plasma mechanism:(1) spore membranes are ruptured as seen in SEM micrographs of plasma treated biomaterials,(2) uniform glow discharge noble-gas argon and air plasmas produced different biological decontamination results,(3) ultraviolet light generated from an air plasma, high intensity electric fields, and hot air do not produce deactivation of bacterial spores to any large extent. The use of mutant spores with a single protein missing from the spore coat from Portugalcultivated by PNNL demonstrated similar resistance as standard spores.(4) matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI-MS) mass spectroscopy with a plasma lysis pretreatment illustrated that biomarkers such as proteins are extracted that reveal the mechanism of ionized gas deactivation of spores (and facilitate theidentification of biological materials)(5) modeling of the physical, chemical, and biological mechanism suggests an oxygen reaction pathway for extraction of the protein.The MALDI approach illustrated that membrane proteins are extracted by the ionized gas lysis treatment in a manner similar to other lysis methods such as lysozymes (on certain bacteria types) and mechanical fragmentation including sonication treatment.Benefits of Technology:- Lower Power Consumption; thus high-energy savings.- Reusable system that does not require excessive time or additional speciality gases such as argon.- Ease of decontaminating materials on surfaces.Potential commerical Applications:MicroET can license the technology to a large hazardous waste processing or food service company for their manufacturing and distribution. MicroET can also manufacture the product and work with the engineering firms that design clean-up strategies inorder to integrate it into the market. MicroET would prefer to partner with one of the large firms for distribution, and MicroET would manufacture the product under their partner's trademark.