Air Monitor for Bacteria, Anthrax

A new device under development automatically and continuously monitors the air for the presence of bacterial spores, such as anthrax.

In tests, aerosolized spores were captured with an aerosol sampler and suspended in a solution. Suspended spores were ruptured with microwaves to release a chemical from inside the spores called dipicolinic acid, which is unique to bacterial spores. This acid instantaneously reacts with the chemical sensor in the solution. The sensor triggers an intense green luminescence when viewed under ultraviolet light. The intensity of the luminescence corresponds to the concentration of bacterial spores in the sample.

If an increase in spore concentration is detected, an alarm sounds. A technician would respond to confirm the presence of anthrax spores using traditional sampling and analysis, such as colony counting and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which amplifies DNA to measurable concentrations. The instrument response time is 15 minutes, fast enough to help prevent widespread contamination.

The device is being developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, Pasadena, CA, USA) of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Universal Detection Technology (Los Angeles, CA, USA), a company specializing in environmental monitoring technologies. The agreement, to mutually develop a commercially available anthrax 'smoke' detector, will combine JPL's spore detection technology with Universal's aerosol capture device.

"Having a technician continuously monitor the air for spores is like having the fire department live at your house to ensure that there is no fire,” said Dr. Adrian Ponce, a chemist and senior member of the technical staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory "What you want is a smoke detector, a device that continuously monitors the air for smoke, or in our case, bacterial spores,” he said.




Related Links:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Universal Detection Technology