By ARIELLE KASS
When dangerous bacteria are found in water at the beach, it takes 24 hours for results to come back from a lab and be posted by the health department. By then, the people who swam in that water likely are long gone — without any idea they may have been exposed.
Pathogen Systems Inc. CEO Bob Bunting hopes the detection system his company is testing will cut the time it takes to 30 minutes to identify bacteria in water at the beach or elsewhere.
The Colorado company is using liquid crystal biosensors developed in conjunction with Kent State University's Liquid Crystal Institute and the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy to pioneer the technology.
Mr. Bunting said the company has figured out how to align the liquid crystals, like closed Venetian blinds.
He can then add small amounts of antibodies for pathogens he is looking for to the detector, which will bead up with the pathogen if it is in the water.
That would appear like a tennis ball in the blinds, Mr. Bunting said, allowing light to shine through the opaque screen and alerting testers to the presence of the substance sought.
The company has created a device that looks for light on slides, indicating that the pathogen being tested for has been found.
Mr. Bunting said the device eventually could be used to test for tainted food by washing it and checking the water before it made it to the store.
The technology still is being developed, but it could be marketable in three years or fewer, he said. He hopes to have a manufacturing facility near Kent.
“We're trying hard,” Mr. Bunting said. “It has such a tremendous potential that it's worth taking the risk to figure it out. If we do, it could change the world.”
Gregory Wilson, associate vice president for economic development and strategic partnerships at Kent, said he thinks the company is “extremely promising.”
“Those that know about it are quite excited about it,” he said. “It's been a great example of collaboration.”
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20090216/FREE/302169928
