Smiths Detection to Launch a Portable Diagnostic System for Foot-and-Mouth Disease and Avian Flu.BOSTON -- Smiths Detection, part of the global technology business Smiths Group, today announces it is to launch a portable detection system that will enable veterinarians Veterinarians and veterinary surgeons (vets) are medical professionals who operate exclusively on animals. Well-known and notable veterinarians include:
The initial focus of the technology will be on identifying foot-and-mouth disease foot-and-mouth disease, highly contagious disease almost exclusive to cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and other cloven-hoofed animals. It is caused by a virus that was identified in 1897. and avian flu with a wide range of tests for other diseases to be made available after the initial systems are deployed. Smiths Detection has been working with the global reference centre for foot-and-mouth disease - the Institute for Animal Health (IAH IAH Institute for Animal Health (UK) IAH International Association of Hydrogeologists IAH International Association of Hypno-Analysts IAH International Association of Hydrologists IAH Is Anybody Home? ) - to develop and validate the system. The new portable device is specifically designed to be used by vets wherever livestock are kept and comprises a simple-to-use sample preparation cartridge and a rugged portable instrument. The technology employed is a novel form of Polymerase Chain Reaction polymerase chain reaction (pŏl`ĭmərās') (PCR), laboratory process in which a particular DNA segment from a mixture of DNA chains is rapidly replicated, producing a large, readily analyzed sample of a piece of DNA; the process is (PCR PCR polymerase chain reaction. PCR abbr. polymerase chain reaction Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ), a well established technique for the detection and analysis of infectious diseases infectious diseases: see communicable diseases. . Smiths Detection has been supplying field-based PCR systems for bioterrorism applications for many years. The new generation of instruments, building on this experience, is designed to run in harsh environments and, unlike typical laboratory PCR machines, requires no setting up by the operator between each test. A wide variety of veterinary sample types can be analysed by the instrument and up to five independent tests can be run simultaneously. An analysis of the infection is available in under 90 minutes, enabling the vet to take swift action. The instrument can be decontaminated at the location, a critical feature in the control of disease outbreaks. For the last three years, Smiths Detection has worked closely with the laboratory of Professor Larry Wangh at Brandeis University Brandeis University, at Waltham, Mass.; coeducational; chartered and opened 1948. Although Brandeis was founded by members of the American Jewish community, the university operates as an independent, nonsectarian institution. , near Boston, Massachusetts “Boston” redirects here. For other uses, see Boston (disambiguation). Boston is the capital and most populous city of Massachusetts.[3] The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the unofficial economic and cultural center of the entire New , that invented a novel DNA amplification DNA amplification Molecular diagnostics Any method used to ↑ the copy number of a sequence of DNA. See Cycling probe technology, Gap LCR–gap ligase chain reaction, Gene amplification, NASBA–nucleic acid sequence-based amplification, PCR, and analysis technique called Linear After The Exponential PCR (LATE PCR). Smiths Detection holds an exclusive license to this technology. LATE PCR provides significant improvements over traditional PCR techniques, in particular in its ability to identify multiple types of bacteria or virus in a single test and to determine accurately the strain of an individual infection. This latter characteristic is critical in Avian Influenza avian influenza: see influenza. where discrimination between the pathogenic strain of H5N1 and more common forms of the disease, is vital. Dr Donald King, Group Leader of Molecular Characterisation and Diagnostics at the UK Institute for Animal Health (IAH), said: "Smiths Detection is actively collaborating with the Institute for Animal Health's global reference laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease to develop an assay to allow the rapid detection of FMD-infected animals in the field. This work has involved the development of a suitable assay format which will be validated when Smith's new platform technology is available in the near future. The results of this early pilot work have been presented at international conferences." Smiths Detection is working to develop additional assays for the same instrument, including one to detect the Blue Tongue Blue Tongue may refer to :
Stephen Phipson, Group Managing Director of Smiths Detection, said: "Our links with some of the world's leading academic institutions enhance Smiths Detection's technologies and take us into new markets. This breakthrough with Brandeis University moves our biological detection and identification activities into an important commercial market. We are putting laboratory science into the hands of vets. Together we will play a vital role in the future detection and management of animal disease outbreaks." Commenting on the relationship with Smiths Detection, Irene Abrams, Director of the Office of Technology Licensing at Brandeis University, said: "Not only has Smiths Detection invested in Larry Wangh's lab but the company is continuing to develop its relationship with Brandeis by investing in life sciences here. When an industry leader like Smiths Detection is committed to an ongoing relationship with Brandeis, it shows tremendous confidence in our science." The new system will be launched to vets at the World Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians conference in Australia in November 2007 and is expected to be in production in mid 2008. About Smiths Detection Smiths Detection is part of the global technology business Smiths Group. It offers advanced integrated security solutions for customers in civil and military markets worldwide and is a leading technology developer and manufacturer of sensors that detect and identify explosives, chemical and biological agents, weapons, and contraband. Its advanced technology security solutions also include Smiths Heimann x-ray imaging systems, millimeter-wave technology and a specialist software supply business for the management of large sensor and video surveillance networks. Separate business units focus on related products for the life sciences, and food manufacturing industries manufacturing industries npl → industrias fpl manufactureras manufacturing industries npl → industries fpl de transformation . For more information visit www.smithsdetection.com About Smiths Group Smiths is a global technology company listed on the London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange London marketplace for securities. It was formed in 1773 by a group of stockbrokers who had been doing business informally in local coffeehouses. . A world leader in the practical application of advanced technologies, Smiths Group delivers products and services for the threat & contraband detection, medical devices, energy and communications markets worldwide. Our products and services make the world safer, healthier and more productive. Smiths Group employs more than 20,000 people in over 50 countries. For more information visit www.smiths.com About Brandeis Characterized by academic excellence since its founding in 1948, Brandeis is one of the country's youngest private research universities and the only nonsectarian Jewish-sponsored college or university in the nation. Named for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, Brandeis combines the faculty and resources of a world-class research institution with the intimacy and personal attention of a small liberal arts college Liberal arts colleges are primarily colleges with an emphasis upon undergraduate study in the liberal arts. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise offers the following definition of the liberal arts as a, "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge . |
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