Microplasma-assisted manipulation of intact airborne bacteria for real-time autonomous detection

In this project we are proposing a new method of directly detecting airborne bacteria. In many fields, the dangers of infection by pathogens, for example anthrax, need to be faced and there are major challenges with existing techniques in quickly assessing the danger so that rapid public safety responses are possible . Current techniques may be slow, expensive or need trained people and specialised laboratories. We want to devise a detection technique based on accurate measurement of a number of physical characteristics of bacteria that will allow differentiation of even similar strains so that the true pathogens can be clearly identified. This is a difficult challenge and further, we aim to show in our proof of principle, that it will be possible to design a detector that is low cost, reasonably portable and can work autonomously i.e. without continuous human intervention. Success would then encourage the development and deployment of this remote monitoring technology in critical public spaces, for example large public events and hospitals.

The proposed research will investigate a new method of detecting and identifying intact pathogenic bacteria which avoids the limitations of current culture, biosensor or spectrometric approaches and, if successful, would be compact, autonomous, rapid and relatively low cost. Significant ground-breaking impact can be expected in arenas that would directly affect human health and welfare, such as, terrorism and bio-security, airborne hospital-acquired infections, public building and food safety. It may also have an impact in the development of light-weight detectors for space missions in the search for extra-terrestrial life. New instrumental techniques will help explore the physics of biological processes, currently a Grand Challenge in the physical sciences, offer new avenues of research in the Physics of Life and help engender new research collaborations between physics and biology.
Terrorism & security: the ongoing threat of pathogenic agent dispersal, whether chemical, nuclear or biological (CBRN), has exercised governments worldwide since the Anthrax attacks of 9/11. Rapid advances in biotechnologies are creating new vulnerabilities and new forms of biological warfare and such an attack is considered a Tier One priority risk in the UK's National Security Strategy (2010). Robust management of such a threat as well as public assurance would benefit considerably from advanced early-warning technology at critical locations, (e.g. London Underground, international airports, Olympics) and ultimately as part of a national network of environmental monitoring stations in urban centres. The proposed detection principle will allow flexible and remote reconfiguration of the sensor focus during and immediately after an attack or accidental release, as local field data is collected from other sources and analysed. Our proposed technology will be compact and hence also suitable for portable/ transportable deployment in the aftermath of a suspected event.
Hospitals, Health Laboratories & Public Buildings: Advances in medical therapies (e.g. chemotherapy) have led to greater numbers of immunocompromised patients who are highly susceptible to dangerous hospital-acquired opportunistic infections. A viable detection technology for pathogenic bacteria with selective or portable deployment could have a major impact in a hospital environment, as a method of limiting airborne infection risks. Relevant pathogens include: (i) aerobic fungi dispersed by poorly functioning ventilation; (ii) bacterial pathogens (e.g. M. tuberculosis, S. aureus) which can persist in the environment for long periods; (iii) waterborne species (e.g. Legionella spp.) spread by exposure to contaminated aerosols. Providing an airborne monitoring capability with real time response for priority target species, would be highly beneficial, especially for protective patient care environments, operating theatres, isolation wards etc. A similar approach would be suitable for public buildings (e.g. Legionnaire's disease) and in the food industry where airborne dispersal is a source of contamination that could result in serious food poisoning. The development of a mobile real-time detector would allow the source of any airborne outbreak to be traced quickly.
Extra - Terrestrial Life: Detecting microorganisms elsewhere in the universe invokes considerable scientific and public interest. During the coming decades, the search for life on Mars will be a central focus of both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) missions while Europa, Jupiter's moon, has provoked considerable interest as a possible location for extraterrestrial biology. The prospect of simple, direct and unambiguous differentiation between biological microorganisms and non-biological particles in-situ would be very appealing. The proposed bacteria detector could have immediate and significant impact for planned planet and comet probe missions through greatly reduced weight and operational complexity