The Anthrax attack last fall of 2001, might just have been a test run by any of many foreign powers or political forces or economic forces.
It would not be the first time that poison was used on an occasion contributing to the appearance of death by related "causation."
A solid case ought to be had, prior to seizure by the law, so as to ensure as best as possible that some "bug" does not slip through its "envelope."
SAN CARLOS, Calif., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- NuGEN Technologies, Inc. today announced it has received a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to develop a rapid and sensitive assay for the detection of anthrax. The assay will be based on NuGEN's Single Primer Isothermal Amplification Technology (SPIA(TM)), a novel method for amplifying and detecting small amounts of DNA or RNA."Our SPIA(TM) technology was developed as a high fidelity alternative to PCR without the need for complex instrumentation," said Nurith Kurn, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of NuGEN. "In this application, it potentially offers a tremendous advantage for more rapid detection of a bioterrorism agent such as anthrax. Clearly, the earlier anthrax can be detected in the environment, the earlier treatment can be administered to the population."
Despite the complexity of having to thermocycle and a lack of speed, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is currently the only reliable technology for the relatively rapid detection of anthrax (Bacillus anthracis). NuGEN's SPIA(TM) technology is capable of greater than 107 fold amplification of a target nucleic acid within 30 minutes. It is well suited for centralized laboratory testing since no containment of the reaction mixture is required.
"NuGEN's rapid, isothermal method will be ideally suited for environmental or field-based applications for the detection of anthrax, when integrated with existing microfluidic miniaturized devices," said Jan D'Alvise, President and CEO of NuGEN ... "
See: Anthrax Detection System Proposed, Yahoo / AP, August 12, 2002:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Using lasers to measure the scattering of light off vibrating molecules could lead to a new method for quickly detecting anthrax spores and other bioterror agents.The system is proposed in a paper appearing in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The work is in its preliminary stages, acknowledges Marlan O. Scully of Texas A&M University.
"We're still doing the science, we're not ready to build the device and put it out right away," said Scully, lead researcher on the project.
But it holds the potential to speed up the detection of anthrax and other spores if development can be completed.
Interest in rapid detection of biological agents has increased since the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax-by-mail terrorism last fall.
Current detection systems can tell the difference between dust and organic compounds such as bacteria, but they can't quickly sort the dangerous spores like anthrax from germs that don't cause disease.
The international research team led by Scully hopes to take advantage of so-called Raman signals, which result from the scattering of light off vibrating molecules.
Anthrax includes certain acid and calcium compounds that produce unique Raman signals, and detecting these would quickly highlight the deadly germs.
But Raman signals are very weak, so the team is using short bursts of light from one laser to increase the oscillations of the molecules, boosting the signals much like pushing a child on a swing increases her movement.
Then a second laser is used to detect the amplified signal.
The team calls the proposed method FAST CARS &emdash; femtosecond adaptive spectroscopic techniques for coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy.