Patent ID: 11952611
Assignee: LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA HOLDINGS
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC C  G | IPC C  G

Claim 16:
17. A method of determining effective dose of an antibiotic in killing bacteria comprising:
(a) incubating each of one or more of antibiotic solutions separately with one or more samples comprising the bacteria, wherein the concentrations of the one or more of antibiotic solutions are different and define a range;
(b) incubating the bacteria in the one or more samples with a recombinant bacteriophage specific to the bacteria, wherein the recombinant bacteriophage comprises a genetic construct inserted into a late gene region of the bacteriophage genome, the genetic construct comprising:
(i) an indicator gene, wherein the indicator gene is not contiguous with a gene encoding a structural bacteriophage protein and does not yield a fusion protein; and
(ii) a promoter controlling transcription of the indicator gene, wherein the promoter is a bacteriophage late promoter,

and wherein expression of the indicator gene results in an indicator protein product, and wherein the indicator protein product is a luciferase; and
(c) detecting the indicator protein product, wherein detection of the indicator protein product in the one or more samples indicates the concentrations of antibiotic solutions used to treat the one or more samples are not effective, and the lack of detection of the indicator protein indicates the antibiotic is effective, thereby determining the effective dose of the antibiotic.