LOS ANGELES, Dec ! 10, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Universal Detection Technology
(www.udetection.com) (OTCBB: UNDT), a developer of early-warning monitoring
technologies to protect people from bioterrorism and other infectious health
threats and provider of counter-terrorism consulting and training services,
reported today that it has responded to the Department of Homeland Security's
request for a research proposal aimed at detecting and containing harmful
bioagents, such as anthrax, used as bioterrorism weapons.
The Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) from the Department of Homeland Security is
seeking research and development proposals in multiple Technical Focus Areas
(TFAs) of bacterial biothreat antigen detection and identification. UNDT plans
to adapt technology licensed from NASA's JPL for a non-immunological method of
identifying bacterial biothreat agents.
The threat of terrorist or criminal use of pathogenic organisms and their toxins
remains! of great concern in the United States. In order to address capability
gaps in this area and support the Surveillance and Detection Pillar of the
National Biomonitoring Architecture (NBMA), the development of rapid and
specific detection methods are needed to provide reliable analysis on a variety
of bacterial biothreat agents. As part of the effort to deter biological
terrorism and strengthen the capabilities of the biodefense and public health
laboratory response, it is important to explore both classic and alternative
methods and approaches to address the critical need to rapidly detect bacterial
biothreat agent antigens and toxins of interest.
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) states that DHS S&T will
"support basic and applied homeland security research to promote revolutionary
changes in technologies; advance the development, testing and evaluation, and
deployment of critical homeland security technologies; and accelerate the
prototyping and deployment of technologies that w! ould address homeland security
vulnerabilities." Pursuant to this mission, the Chemical Biological Division
(CBD) seeks technologies to prevent, detect, and defend against a biological
attack. The focus of this BAA is in the area of bacterial biothreat agent
detection, surveillance and identification research.
The BAA calls for proposals on research aimed at recovering, extracting, and
preserving the antigenic signature of the bioagents from their associated
samples; and detecting and identifying the presence of bacterial biothreat
agents present in these samples using non-immunological methods of detection to
analyze samples for bacterial biothreat agent antigenic material.
UNDT's technology uses a molecule unique to bacterial spores, Dipicolinic acid
(DPA) which combines with terbium ions. Exciting the combined terbium ion and
DPA generates a luminescence characteristic. This is achieved by radiating the
complex with ultravio! let light. This method will allow for the detection of
bacterial sp ores using a non-immunological method.
The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism,
headed up by former senators Bob Graham and Jim Talent ominously warned that, "A
recent study from the intelligence community projected that a one-to-two
kilogram release of anthrax spores from a crop duster plane could kill more
Americans than died in World War II (over 400,000)." As a follow-up to this
sobering news, they reported: "Clean-up and other economic costs could exceed
$1.8 trillion."
"The report by former senators Graham and Talent demonstrates the alarming
prospect of a biological weapon attack to the nation," said Jacques Tizabi,
UNDT's CEO. "We plan to work with the DHS and other government agencies in
providing the best products and technologies to combat this threat," he added.
For more information, please visit www.udetection.com or email
info@udetection.com.
