Universal Bacterial Sensor

Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Year: 2018

Current point-of-care detection technologies have largely focused on identifying a specific pathogen or groups of related organisms that can be detected in a single sample. Thus, successful execution of such systems has always required some knowledge of the group of pathogens being interrogated in a given sample. The human innate immune system however, is a universal biosensor that is capable of detecting all pathogens quickly, sensitively and effectively. It does this by selectively recognizing and binding to pathogen-specific biomarkers— bacterial calling cards—via a suite of immune receptors. The Universal Bacterial Sensor (UBS) mimics the biological recognition of all categories of bacterial pathogens. Requiring only a small volume of sample, it detects all pathogens without prior knowledge of what they might be. The UBS is a universal method for the rapid (15–30 minutes), simple and accurate detection of all bacteria. It can identify pathogens easily, quickly, and at the point of need. Moreover, the sensor retains its sensitivity to identify the pathogens even as the bacteria evolve, such as acquiring antibiotic resistance

For more info: www.lanl.gov