Military-grade biosensor debuts.(LIFE SCIENCE)(Brief Article)

R & D, July, 2005

Air Force personnel are testing a new prototype biosensor created by the Air Force Research Lab and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, Wash., intended to alert military personnel "within minutes" if they or their equipment are contaminated with a biological agent.

The system consists of a spray and a hand-held "green box," which determines if agents are present. The green box, or DNA Capture Element instrument, was developed at PNNL.

With the prototype system, "the user sprays the suspected contaminated area, creating a sample that can be picked up by a swab," says PNNL. "The sample material on the swab is suspended in liquid by rinsing it in a container. Once in a liquid form, the sample is injected into a special flow cell...

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