Intelliphage - simple, rapid and cost-effective do-it-yourself bacteria tests
How it works
A simulation of a phage finding and attaching itself to an O157:H7 E.coli bacteria and then starting the process of replication. (A browser refresh may be required) .
Simulation courtesy of Sayet LLC and the National Science Foundation.
Phages typically bind to susceptible target bacteria
via highly specific interactions between the phage ‘tail’ (lower half of phage
in figure) and complementary bacterial attachment molecules on the surface of
the target bacteria. In other words, a phage is very specific to its target
bacterial host by virtue of these surface interactions, thereby ma. king attachment
of phages to unrelated bacteria nearly impossible. On account of their
specificity and virulence, phages are an attractive diagnostic tool for
identification of specific species of pathogenic bacteria (e.g. E.coli
O157:H7, Salmonella, Listeria etc.) without binding to normal healthy bacterial flora
By inserting a reporter gene (e.g. luciferase, fluorescent protein) into a
bacteriophage’s genome, one can visually identify the moment a particular phage
invades a particular host by detecting light (photon) emission or visually
detecting a color change. The
combination of a broad diversity of targeting phages, high targeting
specificity in each phage/pathogen pair, and a rapid readout (using either the
naked eye or inexpensive detection equipment), makes for a powerful and
versatile diagnostic platform that forms the basis for our company.