Chips could speed up detection of livestock viruses

Some of the worst threats to farm workers and farm animals such as bird flu, foot-and-mouth disease and other emerging viruses could soon be quickly identified by using a simple screening chip developed by scientists from the Institute for Animal Health, scientists will hear today at the Society for General Microbiology’s 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

“The last major SARS outbreak – severe acute respiratory syndrome – which started on the border of China and Hong Kong was identified using a microarray chip. Fortunately, because of the rapid identification of the virus it was brought under control, and in spite of its seriousness caused relatively few deaths,” says Dr Paul Britton of the Institute for Animal Health in Compton, near Newbury, Berkshire. “We need a similar way of quickly identifying viruses that attack chickens, cattle, pigs, sheep and other farm animals.”

The scientists have developed a microarray, called a chip, which contains specific small regions of virus genes that react with any viruses in the samples being tested, showing up as coloured spots on glass slides. The method can also be used to see if a sample contains two or more viruses.

“At the moment the common methods for detecting viruses rely on some previous knowledge, such as recognising the clinical signs of a disease,” says Dr Paul Britton. “A system that can be used by almost anyone, and that can quickly and accurately be used to identify the particular virus early on is vital to control these diseases before they spread, and will have much wider applications.”

The new microarray can detect up to 300 different viruses that infect humans and animals including farm livestock, birds, fish and insects. The chip has already been successfully used to detect a coronavirus, similar to SARS, called infectious bronchitis virus, which infects chickens causing major problems for the poultry industry, and also foot-and-mouth disease virus.

“The great advantage of this microarray-based diagnosis is that you don’t even have to know which virus you are looking for. It can be used in the early stages of a disease outbreak to quickly identify the threat to people or animals, and can be used on samples either from clinics or isolated from the environment”, says Dr Paul Britton. “The chip we’ve developed consists of over 2,800 stretches of genes from over 300 viruses from 36 different virus families.”

“At the moment, the cost of the chip is quite high because it is a research tool. However, we hope to make some chips available soon to European members of the Epizone project, a virtual institute that aims to improve research and control epizootic diseases more effectively.”

Source: Society for General Microbiology

Related stories:

MIT engineers work toward cell-sized batteries
(PhysOrg.com) -- Forget 9-volts, AAs, AAAs or D batteries: The energy for tomorrow’s miniature electronic devices could come from tiny microbatteries about half the size of a human cell and built with viruses.
Scientists identify key roadblock to gene expression
A team of scientists has provided, for the first time, a detailed map of how the building blocks of chromosomes, the cellular structures that contain genes, are organized in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The work identifies a critical stop sign for transcription, the first step in gene expression, and has implications for understanding how the AIDS virus regulates its genes. The findings will be published in the 15 May 2008 issue of the journal Nature.
New system would use rotating magnetic field to detect pathogens
Researchers at Purdue and Duke universities have developed a technique that uses a magnetic field to selectively separate tiny magnetic particles, representing a highly sensitive method for potentially diagnosing disease by testing samples from patients.
New NEC Technology Isolates Viruses At the Core
NEC has developed a new technology for spotting, isolating and stopping viruses at the core level of its multi-core CPU. Thus, the system keeps running, while the infected core is disabled while a fix is developed and then downloaded from the Internet.
Side-to-side shaking of nanoresonators throws off impurities
Tiny vibrating silicon resonators are of intense interest in nanotechnology circles for their potential ability to detect bacteria, viruses, DNA and other biological molecules.
Side-to-side shaking of nanoresonators throws off impurities
Tiny vibrating silicon resonators are of intense interest in nanotechnology circles for their potential ability to detect bacteria, viruses, DNA and other biological molecules.
Silicon chip beams light through a liquid-core waveguide to detect one particle at a time
By guiding light through liquid-filled channels smaller than a human hair, researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Brigham Young University have succeeded in building a silicon chip that can detect tiny particles one at a time. The research, published online this week in the journal Lab on a Chip, could revolutionize the fields of medical and environmental sampling by making analyses sensitive, portable, and fast.
Deconstructing Brain Wiring, One Neuron at a Time
Researchers have long said they won’t be able to understand the brain until they can put together a “wiring diagram” – a map of how billions of neurons are interconnected. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have jumped what many believe to be a major hurdle to preparing that chart: identifying all of the connections to a single neuron.

News discussion:

General Science news