http://www.msnbc.com/news/937170.asp
"IN A STUDY appearing this week in the journal
Science, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology say they have engineered cells that are
able to sense and identify bioweapons spread through
the mails, air, or water.
The system uses mouse B lymphocytes, or white
blood cells, that have been engineered to contain a
jellyfish gene for a luminescent protein and altered
to carry antibodies that respond to specific diseases.
When antibodies on the sensor cells detect a
pathogen, such as anthrax, they trigger a burst of
calcium within the B cells. Within seconds, the
calcium activates the bioluminescent protein and
causes the whole cell to glow. This is a signal that
the specimen has a dangerous germ.
The system would not require advanced training
to operate, in contrast to current lab techniques that
are performed by highly trained scientists or
technicians.
�It is very simple to operate,� said Todd H.
Rider, an MIT researcher and first author of the
study. �The B cells do all the hard work. Nature has
designed them to detect bacteria and viruses.�...
...Rider said the system, developed with funding from
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has
been tested successfully against all of the known
pathogens that can be used for bioweapons, including
anthrax, smallpox, plague, tularemia and
encephalitis..."
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