Jellyfish Fight Terrorists

Reported September 2008

BOSTON, Mass. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Anthrax, plague and small pox are some of the possible pathogens terrorists could use against us; but now, researchers say jellyfish are helping prevent these kinds of attacks.

From public transportation to federal and government buildings, experts are naming likely targets of bioterrorism.

Now, this innovative biosensor developed by scientists and engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory can identify harmful bacteria or viruses in the air in less than two minutes.

"It’s at least ten times faster than any other automated sensor that’s available," James Harper, a biochemist and engineer at MIT, told Ivanhoe.

In the lab, Todd Rider first developed the CANARY Sensor using jellyfish DNA and a high-voltage electrical charge.

"I was in the lab with the electric creator," Rider, a biologist at MIT, told Ivanhoe. "I had mouse cells and the jellyfish DNA, and I frizzed my hair, said please give me life and pressed the buttons -- and the jellyfish DNA went inside the cells, and we had glowing mouse cells."

The glowing cells reveal the presence of a targeted pathogen. Still, scientists had no way to test air samples for pathogens until Harper created the PANTHER.

Scientists say operation is as simple as loading your DVD player. Disks containing sixteen chambers are loaded into the PANTHER. The machine pulls air through the disk to collect and test any pathogen that might be in the air.

"That disk contains the cells that are the key to the canary technology," Harper said. "It releases those cells into the collected particles and looks for the resulting light, and gives you a sense of what’s detected."

If a dangerous pathogen is detected, the sensor goes off -- alerting anyone who could be in harm's way.

Scientists and engineers say the CANARY technology can eventually be used for medical diagnostics to test patient samples. It may even be used in food processing plants to identify contaminants like E. coli or salmonella. The technology is now licensed commercially.

The information contained in the TV portion of this report was written with support from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

James Harper, Ph.D.
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Lexington, MA
(781) 981-0794
harper@ll.mit.edu

Dr. Todd H. Rider
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Lexington, MA
(781) 981-0559
thor@ll.mit.edu

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