BIOSENSOR FOR RAPID SCREENING OF GALACTOSEMIA

Newborns are regularly screened for inborn errors of metabolism during their first days of life. Typical screenings target galactosemia, phenylketonuria, maple syrup urine disease, and homocystinuria. These screenings require that a blood sample be drawn and sent to a clinical chemistry lab with definitive results often not being available for three to four days. This has the potential to delay and sometimes eliminate the possibility for patient compliance with doctor prescribed positive intervention. This research is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of detecting clinically relevant amounts of galactose (an indicator of galactosemia) in urine using a disposable dipstick-type of biosensor based upon ATP fueled and luciferase catalyzed bioluminescence. The quantitative indication from the biosensor is presented as a spatial distribution of light which can be directly determined by visual analysis. Future development will broaden the range of analytes detected and extend the analyses to blood. Such a method for point of care screening for galactose and many other biomolecules linked to inborn errors of metabolism could significantly reduce the incidence of retardation and delayed development by offering simple, accurate, rapid and less costly analyses which will increase the extent of screening and compliance.