Thermal Gradient device could make it easier to get treatment to
millions of AIDS victims.   Rochester biotech startup Thermal
Gradient says it has invented a device that could make it easier
to get treatment to millions of AIDS victims in underdeveloped
parts of the world and provide early warning of an attack by an
airborne biological weapon.  The new technology reduces the time
needed to perform DNA testing from hours to minutes, said Bob
Juncosa, Thermal Gradient's chief technology officer.  Thermal
Gradient was started by Juncosa and Joel Grover, chief executive
officer. Both were managers at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics until
2004, when they were laid off. Since 2008, Thermal Gradient has
been a tenant of the biotechnology business incubator funded by
the University of Rochester Medical Center and New York state.
The company recently signed an agreement with Axela Inc., a
Toronto company, to use Thermal Gradient's technology in a new
diagnostic system to be made by Axela.  DNA-based diagnostic
testing is