New Horizons Diagnostics (NHD) — a Maryland-based company specializing in the development of products for the medical, diagnostic, environmental and food testing markets — is combining its innovative technology with Russian expertise to produce ground-breaking devices that help ensure the safety of our food and water supplies.
Since 2001, NHD has been working with the Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Moscow State University Department of Chemical Enzymology, with support from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, to create more effective methods of detecting toxic bacterias.
Scientists at the Russian institutes had been involved in chemical and biological weapons development during the Soviet era. NHD, however, challenged them to apply their extensive experience to a peaceful task — a fundamental study of Luciferase enzymes.
NHD’s specialty is the manufacture of tests based on bioluminescence analysis as well as the luminometer devices necessary to carry them out. In “luminescent” reactions, light is produced by the oxidation of Luciferin (a pigment). This reaction is normally extremely slow, however, enzymes called Luciferases can be introduced to speed up the process. Once Luciferases are introduced, the resulting light can be used to detect the presence of bacteria and toxins in humans as well as samples taken from food, water or the environment.
Luciferases are the central component of luminescent reactions and bioluminescence analysis would be impossible without them. Unfortunately, the enzymes have a number of characteristics that have prevented the technology and its many valuable applications from being made widely available.
One problem is cost. Traditionally, Luciferases have been manufactured in the lab using extremely expensive instruments called photomultipliers. These manufacturing costs are then passed on to the buyer, putting bioluminescence assays out of reach for many potential buyers. Small farms, for example, could potentially use bioluminescence analysis to test the quality of their milk, however the cost is currently prohibitive.
Furthermore, Luciferase is inherently unstable. This is problematic because the accuracy of bioluminescence assays depends on the ability to accurately distinguish the light or “signal” produced by the reaction from any background “noise,” a task that requires a high degree of stability.
Using “Luciola Mingrelica,” a firefly native to Russia, NHD’s Russian colleagues have cloned a number of genetically modified Luciferase enzymes with increased utility, including so-called “red Luciferase” and “recombinant green Luciferase.” Red Luciferase can be produced using inexpensive diodes instead of the costly photomultipliers, making Luciferase affordable to even smaller consumers. Recombinant green Luciferase, on the other hand, has increased stability, making it capable of performing more accurate tests and detecting even trace amounts of a contaminant. In conjunction with these advances, the project has also developed a number of more specific and faster testing protocols.
Perhaps most importantly, these scientific innovations have translated into successes in the marketplace — both in Russia and the U.S. In 2004, the project generated revenues for both partners. Furthermore, former Soviet weapons scientists at each of the Russian institutes are now fully employed by the project and no longer pose a proliferation threat.
In 2004, NHD and its Russian counterparts formed a new Russia-based company called Lumtek Ltd. to manufacture and market their products in the former Soviet Union. With all the pieces now in place for successful commercialization, the project’s outlook is brighter than ever.
NHD’s business has always been based on experimenting with unconventional methods of problem solving. Their willingness to apply that philosophy outside the laboratory has produced a true success story. They are a continuing example of just how much can be accomplished when the right people are brought together to achieve a goal.
New Horizons Diagnostics Corporation: www.nhdiag.com