Most detectors ascertain the presence of a biological germ by shining visible light on fluorescent tags bound to pathogens in a sample of blood or water. This causes false alarms as stray light hits the sample and makes other substances glow. No naturally occurring compound does that, so this technique greatly reduces incorrect readings. Aside from detecting anthrax and bubonic plague in air and water samples, such sensors may be able to find E. coli in food, cocaine in saliva or HIV in bodily fluids. Being able to detect a biological pathogen is one thing, but identifying it is quite another.
Commercial possibilities range from forensics to medical diagnostics.
With the company's technology, physicians could diagnose infections correctly and prescribe treatment before the patient leaves the doctor's office. Cepheid is helping develop an automated device that detects and identifies germ warfare agents. Progress made in the germ warfare sensor market may mean that one day ill people won't need to consult doctors to determine which disease they have been infected with. While some think these speculations are far-fetched, Harvey Kushner, a terrorism expert in New York, believes that biological germ detectors could become household fixtures, like the smoke detector or the carbon monoxide detector, not too far in the future. Nicole C. Wong is a Mercury News staff writer.