June 2004

Spotting Anthrax

A sensor chip now under development would glow in the presence of anthrax, making possible a handheld device for detecting the deadly biological agent.

By Technology Review

Detecting anthrax and other bioweapons typically requires bulky equipment. Now engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Purdue University have devised a sensor chip only five millimeters square that could do the job. The chip uses standard fluorescence detection technology but shrinks it enough that it can fit in a handheld device. A dye attached to a molecule that reacts with anthrax would be added to a test sample in a plastic cassette clipped to the chip. Light from a tiny light-emitting diode would make any sample containing anthrax glow, and a detector would pick up the fluorescence. The team is now looking for a partner to develop the chip into a product.