Nanotechnology Offers Hope of Rapid and Reliable BSE Test

Cornell University researchers have reportedly developed a nanoscale application that could lead to rapid testing for bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE). The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES), which partly funded the project, recently highlighted the National Research Initiative (NRI) as a step toward improving the safety of the food supply. “A better method of prion detection is necessary to allay public fears, ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply, and enhance international trade,” stated a CSREES press release.

The preliminary testing device is based on a nanotechnology device known as a resonator created by Harold Craighead and his colleagues at
Cornell University in conjunction with Richard Montagna at Innovative Biotechnologies International, Inc. “When prions bind to the resonator’s silicon sensor, it changes the vibrational resonant frequency of the device,” according to CSREES. This sensor is able to detect prions in saline solution “at concentrations as low as two nanograms per millimeter, the smallest levels measured to date.” “At the moment we only test cows when they fall over, but that is a late stage of the disease,” Craighead noted. “It would be ideal to test cows a lot earlier. Resonators could be one path to doing this.” See CSREES Press Release, October 9, 2008; Farm Talk, October 28, 2008.