Infectious viruses have been implicated in the etiology of various disease states, but it is highly likely that many more identified clinical conditions result from uncharacterized viral infections. CDC and university investigators have developed a novel diagnostic tool to identify the presence of known viruses in tissues samples. Moreover, this diagnostic tool can be adapted to discover novel members of existing viral families that may play causative roles in disease pathogenesis. The general approach could easily be extended to the identification of other non-viral pathogens such as bacteria and fungi. In addition to the unlimited commercial applications within the medical community, this technology could be highly useful in the agricultural industry as a means of detecting infectious agents in animal and plant crops. Other potential diagnostic human applications could include the detection of agents utilized in biological warfare as most bioweapons are likely to contain either known pathogens or chimeras of known pathogens.

Inventors: Jairam Lingappa, Jaisri Lingappa, Vishwanath Lingappa,

CDC Reference Number: I-002-03/0

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