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Nanotechnology Against Anthrax Terrorist Attacks This technology could also have medical use	By Stefan Anitei, Science Editor 14th of December 2006, 10:10 GMT Adjust text size:


Those naughty germs are being stopped by armies of scientists searching a way to finish them all. A research team at Clemson University has developed a "spider web" coated with sugar, which - instead of luring insects - traps deadly anthrax spores, rendering them harmless. This nanotechnique is a strategy against weaponized anthrax, a biological agent used by terrorists that killed five Americans in 2001. Anthrax spores are covered with simple carbohydrates (sugars) that are used to communicate with or attract other germ species. The research team used carbon nanotubes as a scaffold for displaying sugar molecules that would attract the anthrax spores. Carbon nanotubes are hollow tubes made of carbon atoms. Typically being equal to 1/1000 of the thickness of a single human hair, nanotubes are formed from intensely heated carbon. When sugar coated, the carbon nanotubes bind with the anthrax spores, creating clusters that are too large to be inhaled, stopping their infection and destroying them. A similar technique against E. coli bacteria was successfully tested in 2004. This new method is a means of protecting the first responders against anthrax in an office or mailroom setting using a water-based gel, foam or aerosol spray, and it has a potential application on the battlefield in larger quantities. At the same time, an Austin, Texas, company, Nano Science Diagnostics (NSD), has developed a technology which can provide food distributors and public health authorities a method to control the spread of anthrax and e-coli as well as other nasty pathogens which could contaminate food products. The technology was created during the course of research for the United States Army looking for a way to detect very quickly anthrax in extremely low concentrations in public spaces. In order to detect bacteria, a contaminated sample must be cultured in a laboratory for at least 24 hours. But the new simple inexpensive hand held instrument can detect bacteria in 15 minutes; tests could be conducted more frequently and - as a matter of routine - in a variety of locations and distribution points, ensuring complete safety of the food supply. And NSD's technology is far more sensitive than other tests on the market. The researchers adapted a discovery involving nanoparticles into a convenient, hand held instrument. The basic technology can also not only be used for food security, but to rapidly diagnose a variety of medical problems from infectious diseases to malignant tumors. Insofar, the company has completed work to detect food pathogens such as E-coli, Salmonella, and Listeria. The medical area holds great promise since a 15 minute diagnostic test can be completed in the doctor's office, and the patient does not have to wait for a day or sometimes longer to get the results. This not only relieves patient anxiety, but treatment can also begin sooner if there is a problem. NSD's technology can also - unlike some laboratory based tests today - quantify the extent of the viral or bacterial infection. Hence, a mild infection need not be treated with aggressively high dosages of medication and vice versa. Photo credit: Clemson University

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