NEWS DIGEST EU Action Plan for CBRN
Member States, and addressed shortfalls in EU response to CBRN incidents. As only two member states, France and Italy, have established legal frameworks for strategic stockpiling it was agreed that stockpiling needed to be dealt with internationally as well as at a local and national level. It was agreed that the EU CBRN Action Plan needs new capacities and be given more responsibilities if EU citizens are to be protected against any type of CBRN incident at all levels. As usual, it will all come down to funding – which in turn will depend on how much priority is laid on CBRN not only by EU organizations but by each Member State. zy
The EU CBRN Action Plan adopted in 2009 has recently come under review. Preparedness on Chemical Risks, a luncheon debate held on 20 February, organised by the European Security Round Table (ESRT), focused on how the European Union and EU Member States could be better prepared for CBRN incidents of natural, manmade or terrorist origin. Representatives from the European
Commission, the European Parliament, the industry and Member States provided feedback and attempted to take stock of how Member States can increase CBRN preparedness. The group identified the need for further training and teams capable of responding to evolving threats and the varying type of responses, as well as enhancing the central role of the EU, increased intelligence sharing between
Food for thought
New biodetection technologies receive a lot of attention for their potential applications in the world of defence and counterterrorism. But while early-warning systems on subways and real-time pathogen forecasting stations focus on applications relating to physical security, there is a growing trend to utilize sensing technology in consumer applications, particularly to improve food safety. In the future, food and pharmaceutical
consumers stand to hold greater confidence in their purchases with regard to shelf life and safety. Ongoing developments in biosensing technology include a widening array of pre-sale and post-sale mechanisms which are becoming available to evaluate contamination in medical samples or packets of food and medicine. For example, Innovative Biosensors Inc is developing low-cost kits containing light-emitting genetically engineered cells, and Eindhoven University of Technology (EUT) is developing plastic analogue-digital converters. Significantly, the biosensing technologies come in two flavours. Whereas Innovative Biosensor’s BioFlash technology relies on antibody- binding bringing about measurable light emissions, the EUT approach involves a simple printable plastic circuit, which is
12 CBNW 2013/02
far cheaper to produce than biotech alternatives are today. And when it comes to consumer products, the bottom line always wins out. Nonetheless, the real bottom line is
that we are unnecessarily throwing away mountains of food and medicine every year. Providing a cheap and robust way to protect against such waste is likely to become of increasing importance to governments as environmental scarcity advances. And while plastic circuit biosensors might be cheap to make today, a few cells are likely to do a far better job for multi-sample testing in the future – we may not even be that far away from cellular sommeliers. zy
EDWARD J. L. PERELLO On BioFire
BioFire Diagnostics, Inc has announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office had issued US Patent No. 8,394,608 covering the company’s FilmArray system. As the first US patent issued to cover FilmArray, it gives BioFire exclusive rights to the patented technology. The patent covers methods for sample preparation and two-step multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a sealed container. FilmArray’s proprietary technology represents a significant advancement in user-friendliness and multiplex infectious disease testing capability for hospital clinical labs. As part of the FilmArray system,
The plastic analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) is still relatively large, but in its final form it will be smaller.
BioFire has developed the FilmArray Respiratory Panel (RP), which rapidly detects nucleic acids in nasopharyngeal swabs obtained from individuals suspected of respiratory tract infections. Requiring only two minutes of hands-on time, FilmArray RP has about a one-hour turn-around time and simultaneously tests for 20 viral and bacterial targets. Addition- ally, BioFire is continuing to develop a broader test menu for its FilmArray system, including a Blood Culture ID Panel, Gastrointestinal Panel and a Meningitis Panel, with more patents expected in the future. BioFire holds over 70 patents related to polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and it has used its extensive patent portfolio to successfully market nearly 200 products to the clinical, research, and military markets, its customers including the US Department of Health and Human Services, the US Department of Defense, and US state and local law enforcement. zy
Photo: Bart van Overbeeke
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