BIOLUMINESCENCE FOR DETECTION OF TRACE COMPOUNDS

THE OBJECTIVES OF PHASE I ARE TWOFOLD: DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF BIOLUMINESCENT TESTING FOR DETECTION OF TOXIC COMPOUNDS, AND DEVELOP AN INEXPENSIVE PHOTO-DIODE BASED LIGHT DETECTION SYSTEM FOR FIELD MEASUREMENT OF LOW LEVEL BIOLUMINESCENCE. THIS UNIQUE TEST WILL UTILIZE DARK STRAINS OF E. COLI CONTAINING CLONED LUX GENES FROM THE LUMINOUS BACTERIUM PHOTOBACTERIUM LEIOGNATHI TO DETECT CARCINOGENS. THESE GENES HAVE BEEN ISOLATED, CLONED INTO, AND EXPRESSED IN E. COLI, AND ARE KNOWN TO RESPOND TO NUMEROUS CARCINOGENSWITH AN EMISSION INTENSITY WHICH IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE CARCINOGEN CONCENTRATION. THE GENE RESPONSE IS RAPID (MINUTES) AND SENSITVE (PPB RANGE); AND THE MATERIALS ARE INEXPENSIVE AND INERT. PHASE I WILL FOCUS ON DEFINING AND OPTIMIZING THE SYSTEM FOR DETECTION OF SEVERAL SPECIFIC GROUPS OF CARCINOGENS. THE ANTICIPATED BENEFITS OF BIOSENSOR DETECTION OF TOXIC COMPOUNDS (CARCINOGENS, METALS, SPECIFIC ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, ETC...) INCLUDE IN-SITU HAZARDOUS WASTE IDENTIFICA-TION, LEAK DETECTION, WATER TESTING, TOXICITY SCREENING, SECURITY SCREENING, ETC... THIS BIOLOGICAL SYSTEM, BECAUSE OF ITS INHERENT SENSITIVITY, IS UNIQUELY SUITED FOR THE DETECTION LOW LEVELS OF TOXIC COMPOUNDS; EMITTING EASILY MEASURABLE LEVELS OF VISIBLE LIGHT PRODUCING A RESPONSIVE, INEXPENSIVE, AND USER-FRIENDLY DETECTION SYSTEM.