KENT STATE Biology weapon can find threats

The technology is now being offered to the Centers for Disease Control.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
KENT -- New technology developed by a Kent State University microbiologist may play a role in the United States' fight against biological warfare.
Dr. Christopher Woolverton, assistant professor of biological sciences, first had the idea for the technology, which has been licensed from KSU to a Bellevue, Wash., firm, MicroDiagnosis (MDi). MDi has offered it to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for its investigation of the anthrax case in Florida.
The technology, based on research at the Liquid Crystal Institute, KSU's new biological sciences research and teaching center, and Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine, was patented in 2000.
Faster method: MDi's device, called StatDetech, uses liquid crystal technology to produce an immediate reaction when an antibody is used to capture bacteria or virus cells. It has the capability to detect bacterial and viral pathogens without the typical one-to-five-day delay associated with conventional culturing methods, said Ron Bromfield, MDi president and chief executive officer.
It has not been tested for anthrax, but it has worked on every "bug" tested, Bromfield said.
The idea for the technology came to Woolverton several years ago when he was at a seminar listening to John West, director of the Liquid Crystal Institute, talk about how liquid crystal molecules alter light as it shines through them. A month later, a speaker at another seminar said the most important thing for microbiology to focus on in the next five years is real-time detection of microorganisms.
Woolverton said the two ideas caused him to see a way to use the technology, which lights up the new flat computer screens, to shine a light on the microorganisms.
How it works: Woolverton theorized that by putting antibodies into a liquid crystal matrix, certain bacteria introduced into the matrix would be attracted to certain antibodies, causing a local distortion in the liquid crystal. Shining a light through the distortion, in theory, should be able to detect the bug, he said. He tested the theory, and found the process took only 30 seconds.
Bromfield said he does not know if CDC, which he said is no doubt overwhelmed at this point, will use the technology. But if CDC does, Bromfield is convinced that it could immediately identify the presence of biological weapons.