Participants/Project Abstracts
Summer 2007 Bioanalytical Science REU Participants
BIOSENSOR FOR BACILLUS CEREUS SPORE
Eminet Gebremichael, Ken James and Dr. Harry Tom
Department of Physics, University of California-Riverside, UCR 92521 and University of La Verne, La Verne, California, 91750
Abstract
Today, defense against biological warfare agents is of great concern to many nations. Currently, the leading method of antigen detection uses antibodies via a test strip similar to a pregnancy test. However, this test strip method is inefficient because it requires an onsite lab technician or the samples collected must be sent to a lab to be analyzed. Thus the development and production of an instant and inexpensive detector that could be used to test for specific analytes is highly beneficial. For this purpose, a biosensor that combines biological and physiochemical properties was developed in this research. The specific goal was to develop a biosensor for Bacillus Cereus, a close relative of anthrax. The Bacillus Cereus biosensor employs the antibody specific for the bacterium as well as a high magnification camera. Initially, to enhance the image and decrease background noise, the glass substrate used had cylinders of varying sizes etched into it. Using well known procedures, streptavidin was attached to the glass surface. Since biotin has a high affinity to streptavidin, biotinylated antibody manufactured for the Bacillus Cereus spore was attached to the pretreated glass. Once this attachment was completed a "before" image was captured, then the slides were exposed to the Bacillus Cereus spores, and finally an "after" image was captured. In addition to visual confirmation of the spore capture, results from a 2D Fourier Transform indicated a detectable difference in the diffraction pattern (which is the functional positive signal from this device).
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