Through the use of biotechnology, vaccines and diagnostic reagents of extremely high purity, specificity and sensitivity are being developed for defense against disease-producing organisms. The area of medical therapeutics, of which vaccine development is an integral part, represents over 50 percent of the biotechnology market. An additional 28 percent of the market is devoted to the field of medical diagnostics, which the U.S. Industrial Outlook(link?)describes as "one of the fastest-growing applications of biotechnology."

BDD Vaccines and Diagnostics Group

Barbara Baumstark
(Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology>

Margo Brinton
(Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania>

Teryl Frey
(Ph.D., California Institute of Technology>

Gabor Patonay
(Ph.D., Technical University of Budapest>

Projects currently being undertaken by the BDD Vaccines and Diagnostics Group include:

• detection of pathogens affecting indoor air quality
• use of DNA amplification as a diagnostic tool for the detection of botulism posioning
• development of reagents to detect persistent viral infection in laboratory animals
• design of recombinant rubella antigens for the production of virus-detection kits
• use of near-infrared diode mass spectrometry as a detection tool