Police Scientists Create Chip That Can ID Bioweapons Quickly
March 18, 2008 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
The National Research Institute of Police Science has developed a new type of DNA chip that can identify which biological weapon has been spread in the event of a bioterrorist attack.
Using the chip should substantially reduce the time needed to identify the virus or bacteria used in such an attack, which currently takes nearly half a day, enabling protective measures, such as evacuation and preparation of vaccines, to be put in place quickly.
The DNA chip was developed jointly by the institute, Toshiba Corp. and Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine’s Research Center for Animal Hygiene and Food Safety.
The chip is encased in a cassette measuring 5.3 centimeters by 3.5 centimeters. It contains DNA information on 20 potential biological weapons, such as anthrax and other bacteria and viruses. When a collected agent is put inside the chip and an electric current applied, the agent multiplies, and it takes only about an hour before the chip determines whether the agent matches a reagent inside.
Police across the country are equipped with devices for detecting sarin and other toxins and drugs that could be used for chemical terrorist attacks. But police can do nothing about a bioterrorist attack other than bring the agents collected at the site of the attack to a laboratory and test them on reagents, one by one, which takes half a day.
The institute, an affiliated body of the National Police Agency, said it hoped to put the chip into practical use as soon as possible.
