DEVELOPMENT OF A SENSITIVE, RAPID CHEMICAL/BIOLOGICAL AGENT DETECTOR

THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY HAS MADE IT IMPERATIVE TO DETECT BIOHAZARDS WHICH MAY BE ENCOUNTERED INI STRATEGIC AREAS OF AIR FORCE OPERATIONS. THE RELEASE OF BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS IN A DEEP BASE WOULD PRESENT A SIGNIFICANT THREAT. IN PHASE I OF THIS PROPOSAL, WE WILL DEVELOP A QUALITATIVE METHOD OF DETECTING LOW CONCENTRATIONS OF AIRBORNE CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL AGENTS. THIS SENSITIVE, RAPID CHEMICAL/BIOLOGICAL AGENT DETECTOR USES AN ENZYME IMMUNOASSAY (EIA) SYSTEM WHICH WILL PRODUCE A COLORED SPOT ON A FILTER PAPER IN THE PRESENCE OF THE AGENT. ANTIBODIES TO THE VARIOUS AGENTS WILL BE BOUND TO SMALL PARTICLES AND TO A READOUT ENZYME. THESE ANTIBODIES WILL BE MIXED WITH THE SAMPLE CONTAINING THE AGENT THEN FILTERED ONTO A PAPER DISK. A SUBSTRATE SOLUTION WILL BE APPLIED AND THE ENZYME WILL PRODUCE A COLOR ON THE PAPER IF THE AGENT IS PRESENT. THIS METHOD IS QUICK, SENSITIVE, LIGHT WEIGHT, PORTABLE AND MAY BE USED BY NONPROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL. THIS DETECTOR SYSTEM MAY BE PACKAGED FOR USE IN A VARIETY OF ENVIRONMENTS TO DETECT A NUMBER OF BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL AGENTS SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS DETECTOR SYSTEM WILL BE STUDIED IN PHASE II.