SBIR-STTR Award

The ease with which small countries and terrorist groups can now obtain biological warfare agents has escalated the need to provide the war fighter and civilians alike with miniature, easy to use, disposable instruments for detection and identification of potentially hazardous biological agents. Traditional methods for detection and identification of microorganisms, viruses and or their products lack the speed and sensitivity to be of field usage since they are not real time or even typically completed in a single day. Molecular recognition systems that can be used for rapid identification and neutralization can improve response time and thus avert or reduce the number of casualties associated with a potential bioterrorism or biowarfare event. Initially, nanocapsules will be developed by using nanosize MgO-Cl2 adducts as a biobactericide. It is well known that the nanoparticles size of metal oxide is similar in range to many common biomolecules, which make them to appear to be natural companion in hybrid systems. By controlling structure precisely at nanoscale dimensions, one can control and tailor properties of nanostructures. In addition, one can make modifications to nanostructures to better suit their integration with biological systems; for example, modifying their surface layer for enhanced aqueous solubility, biocompatibility, biorecognition, biomarker, biotagging. Considering these factors, we are proposing a method by which an early detection of biological agents and their neutralization may be possible by using liposome encapsulated nanosize MgO-Cl2 adduct in this STTR project for Phase I. Phase I will aim with the several tasks e.g. fabrication of nanocrystalline MgO, formation of nanocrystalline MgO-Cl2 adduct, encapsulation of MgO-Cl2 adduct by liposome associated with antibody, detection of E-Coli by antibody attached to liposome and neutralization by nanocrystalline MgO-Cl2 adduct. In Phase II, smart coating will be design and developed using the nanocapsules of nanocrystalline MgO-Cl2 adduct. Applications include, but are not limited to, biosensors, detector of biological agents, neutralization of biological warfare agents for defense and law enforcement. These nanocapsules and coatings will be the lifesaver of millions of people at the time of biological weapons use by terrorists. Furthermore, these nanocapsule without (chlorinated) material has tremendous commercial potential as a drug delivery agent in biomedicine. NanoMgO has various other applications in non-biological industries e.g. energy, battery and electronic industries. Additionally, the applicability of this material can further extended to refractory in metallurgical and material industries. Other commercial areas are catalysis, superconductors, and high temperature structural components.

Keywords:
Nanopowders, Biological Warfare Agent, Internal Release, Coatings, Immune Building, Appliqu

The interest in the Phase II project on nanocapsules of biomolecules and nanomaterial lies in its ability to act as dual functionality like detection and neutralization simultaneously. Significant effort have been made by the defense as well as commercial sectors, however, there is no technology till now to provide dual functionality. During Phase I research, systematic studies on preparation of nano-size MgO and MgO-Cl2 adduct and encapsulation of these nanomaterials in liposomes was carried out. Furthermore, a few strains of bacteria (PAO1, PDO300, and S. aureus) were investigated in presence of different concentration of MgO and MgO-Cl2. It was observed that higher concentration of these nanomaterials inhibit the growth of bacteria, whereas at very dilute concentration, it attenuates the growth. The findings obtained during Phase I demonstrated the feasibility of nanocapsules of biomolecules and nanomaterial MgO-Cl2 adduct to detect and neutralize the biological agents. Results achieved in Phase I research suggest that there is considerable merit to further research and development of the approach. This technology has application not only for defense purpose but for food industry too. In Phase II, our effort will be to modify the surface of liposomes for the attachment of biotinylated and fluorescent antibodies for the detection of bacteria and use the encapsulated MgO-Cl2 material for neutralization of bacteria. A smart coating of nanocapsule will be applied on various substrates with the help of "Avidin-Biotin" complexation. Detection and neutralization test for smart coating will be performed by using anthrax model systems to prove the feasibility of our method.

Keywords:
Nanopowders, Coatings, Biological Warfare Agent, Immune Building, Appliqu…