DEVELOPMENT OF MERCURY-FREE AMALGAM DENTAL FILLINGS

Not Available Current methods for screening of phage display libraries require time-consuming biological amplification steps which can lead to the loss of potentially valuable clones that do not replicate. With the rapid growth of the use of recombinant protein products, an automated system which would allow rapid screening of phage libraries would be of significant benefit to military and industrial researchers. Agave BioSystems proposes to develop and demonstrate an instrument capable of real time, automated screening of recombinant phage libraries. Two parallel technologies for marking display phage will evaluated each of which will help to report the presence of a bound phage. Key to detecting these marked bound phage is the development of a highly sensitive fluorometer based on an innovative and proprietary design. Coupled to optimized marker systems, this novel instrument would allow real time detection of a single phage binding event which would in turn allow capture of the desired bacteriophage. BENEFITS: This technology has potential use for drug and vaccine discovery, diagnosis, and resistance monitoring for infectious diseases. By using biomolecules for targets of commercial interest, low-cost, portable diagnostic equipment will be developed. Due to the broad range of applications, this technology is expected to have a major impact on the large medical research and clinical markets.