BioSensor Quickly Identifies Bacteria and Bioagents

The development of the sensor was reported in the July 11, 2003, issue of Science.

Called Canary (cellular analysis and notification of antigen risks and yields), the sensor was developed by researchers at the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Lexington, MA, USA). They created a special strain of mouse B lymphocyte cells and identified a jellyfish gene that allows the organism to produce a protein that glows. Then they genetically engineered B cell lines that glowed in response to specific bacteria and viruses.

The researchers generated B lymphocytes carrying the calcium-sensitive bioluminescent protein as well as antibodies for one or more pathogens. When the cells connect with the right pathogens, their calcium levels rise within seconds and they emit light. The cells are kept in a container that keeps them alive in a test tube and monitors their luminescence in the presence of pathogens. A laptop computer provides a readout of their response. Cell lines were created to detect a variety of pathogens, including anthrax, plague, smallpox, equine encephalitis, and chlamydia. Canary was able to detect as few as 50 colony-forming units of the plague bacterium in less than three minutes. Existing sensors based on chemical reactions can take several hours to provide results.

"Nature had already designed B cells to detect any bacteria and viruses very rapidly, so rather than come up with an artificial assay, I decided to go with what nature had already created,” said Todd H. Rider, a Senior Scientist of the Biosensor and Molecular Technologies Group at Lincoln Lab, who developed the sensor along with colleagues.




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