Portable DNA tester helps identify toxins

17 Jun 2002

A new DNA analysis system could revolutionize tests of food and water in remote locations for contamination, and identifying human remains on the battlefield, believes U.S. Army forensic pathologist Lt. Col. Victor Weedn. Weedn, who took delivery of the DNA analyzer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, assisted the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in overseeing the project.

Developed at the Laboratory's Micro Technology Center, the new instrument is believed to be the first portable, battery-operated DNA analysis system.

"This is the first product developed for portable DNA testing," Weedn said. "This instrument permits the most rapid, sensitive method of DNA testing available. It permits specific identification of a target molecule as well as quantification of the target molecules. And this instrument could be applied to any DNA testing."