From Cell-Based Detector Lights Up for Deadly Germs:
A new biodetector made with the body’s own immune system cells literally lights up when it encounters anthrax, plague or other deadly germs, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
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It uses B cells — the immune system cells that produce the antibodies that in turn seek out invaders, said inventor Todd Rider of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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“These are a type of white blood cell designed by nature to detect bacteria and viruses. Other people had developed relatively artificial methods using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and amino acids, which are time-consuming.”
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Rider’s method, described in Friday’s issue of the journal Science, uses mouse B cells that have been genetically engineered in two ways.First, they contain a gene from jellyfish that lights up.
“It comes from the same jellyfish that is tortured to give us green fluorescent protein,” said Rider. GFP is commonly used in scientific experiments because it is easily spliced into an animal or plant and glows under ultraviolet light.
Rider, a biologist and engineer, used a different jellyfish protein called aequorin that emits a blue light.
Second, the B cells were also engineered to recognize specific pathogens.
“Our funding comes mainly from DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and of course they are interested in military-type applications,” Rider said.
“We can detect smallpox, anthrax, the Yersinia pestis bacteria that cause plagues, equine encephalitis,” Rider said.
“We also developed cells to detect a few non-military pathogens such as the foot and mouth disease virus, so it will be useful for agriculture.”