In-Field Device for the Autonomous Detection of Harmful Algal Bloom Toxigenic Species and Toxins

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a serious threat to coastal resources, causing impacts ranging from the contamination of seafood products with potent toxins to mortalities of wild and farmed fish and other marine animals. HABs cost the U.S. economy over $50 million annually due to the closure of fisheries and beaches and the treatment of human illness from toxin exposures. NOAA is interested in technologies that will allow timely HAB species and toxins detection as they represent critical components of HAB management plans in which rapid response by resource managers are the most effective way to mitigate HAB impacts. Also, when integrated into coastal observing systems, the technologies will yield enormous advancements in monitoring temporal-spatial progression of HABs and forecasting their threats. Current HAB detection methods are laborious, time-consuming and costly. To overcome these problems, Lynntech proposes to develop an automated dual-function field instrument for detecting both HAB nucleic acid and toxins. The platform technology will be innovative, cost-effective, rapid, accurate, and quantitative. The system can potentially be installed on moored buoy or ship-deployed vehicles for automated monitoring with real-time data access capability. Phase I results using the automated procedures were similar to those generated using labor-intensity microtiter procedures.