MITs Pathogen "Sniffer"

MIT researchers have developed a 1 cubic foot box that can detect pathogens within 3 minutes from a liter of air. These include anthrax, plague, smallpox, tularemia and E. coli. but it can detect 24 in all.

The environmental sensor uses modified human immune cells dubbed B cells to detect the pathogens. Each immune cell is used to detect a particular pathogen and when it encounters the pathogen, it emits a photon of light that is recorded to determine the present pathogens.

It is considered to be good for building protection applications and could also be used in doctors offices. A patient would simply have to breathe into the device and the results would be available within minutes.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,336771,00.html?sPage=fnc/scitech/innovation