Collaborating with government agencies in the USA and UK in the field of biological threat detection, Kromek is working towards the common goal of improving the early detection of biological threats anytime and anywhere, making the world safer and healthier.
Biological threats are transmissible agents that spread from person to person (e.g., smallpox, Ebola, SARS-CoV-2) or animal to animal (e.g., foot and mouth disease). They can also be agents that may cause adverse effects in exposed individuals but that do not make those individuals contagious to others (e.g., anthrax, botulinum toxin).
Minimising the impact of pathogen-initiated outbreaks, whether naturally occurring or intentional biological attacks, depends on our ability to detect and identify the causative agent, in order to diagnose, properly triage and treat those infected, and gauge the extent and dynamics of an outbreak. If we want to continuously protect the world from highly contagious, natural, mutating and engineered, biological threats, we need to have fast actionable intelligence through early warning portable systems to make those informed decisions.
DNA sequencing provides a sample’s constitution and its pathogenic burden. Advances in genome engineering (e.g., CRISPR) and synthetic biology mean that variations of pathogens can be created as bioweapons which evade detection by standard targeted techniques like PCR. Next generation sequencing (NGS) identifies agnostically biological entities (e.g., bioterrorist agents) from a variety of sample types. Currently NGS needs expert users and scientists to perform the technology in centralised laboratories. The logistics and transport of samples makes this very time consuming and scaling up is hindered by the expertise needed to analyse the samples.
Our revolutionary integrated environmental monitoring systems allow early detection of any biological threat across large areas and can inform appropriate and timely response to a potential threat.
We are developing a novel fully automated and autonomous biosensing system that detects the presence of airborne or waterborne pathogens (viral and bacterial) based on long read sequencing.
The devices autonomously and continuously collect air samples which are immediately processed and analysed. Alternatively other sample types (e.g., water, wastewater, filters, swabs, powder) will be manually loaded into the system.
In 2019, Kromek began developing a solution to overcome the limitations of Next Generation Sequencing in wide area surveillance and monitoring, working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the USA and the UK Government. Additional funding from Innovate UK in 2021 allowed to adapt the technology to indoor monitoring of buildings and offer not only agnostic detection of all pathogens but also the targeted detection of specific pathogens (SARS-CoV-2) via Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) with its time and cost savings. This was worldwide the first SARS-CoV-2 air quality system using a targeted molecular assay in combination with automated air sampling, processing and detection.
Both use cases finally allow detection outside of certified BSL 2 laboratories. The technology is simple to deploy and use and is inherently scalable. Proprietary software maps generated data against all organisms.
Kromek Biological Threat Detection Technology is fully autonomous and unmanned and combines best-in-class technologies for air sampling, biological testing, and data management.
The Covid-19 pandemic caused extreme disruption of the entire economy and threatened to overwhelm the health systems of countries worldwide. Kromek Biological Threat Detection Technology provides the ability to act, react, and make better decisions in terms of public health and national security.
The next phase of the project is to continue three aspects:
A brief description in pictures of the unique Kromek Biological Threat Detection Technology
At several events during 2022 Kromek got positive feedback regarding our unique capabilites (in situ collection, agnostic detection, highly sensitive analysis, fully automated) which were developed over 4 years in-house and do not exist anywhere else.
The progress of our project has been presented and discussed at several scientific conferences:
The following Ted Talk describes the risks from biological weapons, as they are one of the 4 greatest threats!
Pandemics can spread worldwide at an alarming pace, with catastrophic consequences. This Ted Talk explores the key strategies global governments can use to contain a pandemic, and better understand how to bring it to a definitive end.
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