Background 

     The experience of East Carolina University scientists, including collaborations with researchers at several Russian Institutes, indicates the possibility of relatively fast development of a series of “bio-protector” substances.  These substances could act to improve human (military and civilian) survivability and, in many cases, alleviate symptoms of:

· exposure to chemical warfare agents (including, particularly, low-level exposures such as those related to Gulf War Syndrome)

· low-doses of radiation such as might occur for many thousands to millions of people in the case of either a dirty bomb or a nuclear bomb, respectively,

· exposure to biological warfare pathogens.

     These scientists hope to test efficacy of such substances at the cellular level usingSuperstructural Particle Evaluation and Characterization with Targeted Particle Evaluation (SPECTRA) a laboratory research capability which will allow investigations of real-time, micro-scale responses of cells and microbes to the influence of a variety of chemical species, including chemical warfare agents, toxins, or potential protective or therapeutic substances. 

     In FY 2003, Congress allocated $1.0 million to an East Carolina University program called Targeted Defense against Asymmetric Biological Attack (TDABA) to launch a targeted defense system to fight airborne agents. The research arising from

 

that initiative has opened doors to unexpected new possibilities for protecting military populations around the world, soldiers in the battlefield, and United States citizens from chemical, radiological, nuclear and biological attack by either military action or terrorism. Support is critical to continue work on this project, now renamed SPECTRA.

     SPECTRA combines novel laser tweezers/Raman Spectroscopy with Atomic Force Microscopy and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance. The first aspect, a specially-developed technique, involves a circularized beam from a wavelength-stabilized diode laser, spatially filtered and then introduced in an inverted microscope equipped with an objective to form

a single-beam optical trap.  The same laser beam excites Raman scattering from

the trapped particle.  The collimated back

 

wards Raman-scattering light, after being spatially and spectrally filtered, is focused onto the entrance slit of a spectrograph and detected by a liquid-nitrogen-cooled charge-coupled detector.  The use of lasers operating in the infrared region ensures continued viability of cells during analysis, unlike many other techniques which use radiation of energies which can harm or kill the cell.  Standard Atomic Force Microscopy and Electron Paramagnetic Resonance techniques are used after being adapted to this research environment.

     This means mitigation methods against the four important current terrorist attack threats – chemical, radiological, nuclear, and biological – may all be investigated at the cellular level using one laboratory capability.

     Research directions to be pursued include:

· the testing of an initial array of 4 types of experimental chemical protectors with 5 classes of single-cell units from the body, coupled with investigation of reactions and cellular response via Ames testing, membrane structure analysis, DNA effects, and pattern recognition.

· further development of a highly sensitive laboratory instrument to research materials relevant to military, homeland security and medical science.

 

March 2005