Speedy Germ Detector Works in Minutes

tech

Nov. 5, 2009 -- NASA scientists have developed a speedy new technology that can detect pathogens in 15 minutes flat.

Developed by chemist Adrian Ponce for the planetary science division at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the new device is designed to minimize contamination of other worlds by ensuring outgoing spacecraft are clear of earthly germs.

"The technology works on the timescale of 15 minutes, from sampling to results," Ponce told Discovery News. That compares to two to three days for NASA’s standard technique, which involves culturing, Ponce said.

Ponce's research may find a use on Earth, too. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working with the chemist to turn the technology into a portable biocontamination detection instrument.

Hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and even electronics manufacturers -- anywhere unwanted germs congregate -- may one day benefit from the breakthrough.

WATCH VIDEO: Some people wear business suits to work, but scientists at Draper Labs have to wear "bunny suits" because they work in a clean room.

The new technology centers on the detection of bacterial endospores, namely by pinpointing one of their key chemical components: dipicolinic acid. Ponce's method checks for the acid with a dime-sized dollop of the element terbium.

Nonchemists unwittingly observe terbium when they watch TV, where it generates the color green. Similarly, when scientists add terbium to an area and blast it with ultraviolet light, the element causes the endospores to glow bright green.

The illumination of endospores wouldn't directly point to other disease-causing organisms. But eliminating bacterial endospores, the hardiest form of life on the planet, from a room or spacecraft would effectively cleanse it of less-resilient microbes as well, Ponce says.

According to Matthew J. Arduino of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, endospores can withstand extreme temperatures, radiation, ultraviolet rays and all but the toughest of chemical treatments.

"These organisms form spores as a survival method for when environmental conditions become hostile, nutrition falls off or other changes threaten the organisms," Arduino told Discovery News. "This protects DNA and protoplasm until environmental conditions improve."

While funded in part by NASA, the new technology still awaits approval by committee before it becomes part of official planetary protection procedure. The Department of Homeland Security plans to deploy its portable detection device by 2011.

---