| Anthrax is a threat in biological warfare and bioterrorism that poses a risk to soldiers deployed to warzones and civilians of a nation under attack. Treatment with antibiotics is only likely to be successful if administered shortly after exposure, leading to an overall fatality rate of 80--90%. Thus, an ideal detection system would be rapid and functional in a variety of environments without technical training.;Such a detector can be created with engineered bacteria grown on a hardy substrate of bacterial cellulose. A recombinant anthrax receptor was created using the anthrax-binding region of tumor endothelial marker 8 and the ToxR protein, which regulates gene expression in response to environment. Coupled with a plasmid expressing a fluorescent signal, these bacteria exhibited a 36.0% increase in fluorescence when exposed to anthrax. Growing these bacteria on cellulose will result in a tangible anthrax detector that can be operated on-site with minimal training. |
