BioForce Nanosciences pursues support for ViriChip platform

Apr 12 2007

BioForce Nanosciences continues their effort to fund development of the ViriChip platform, a patented system designed to rapidly and nondestructively detect and identify whole viruses.

Developed by BioForce and made possible by BioForce's Nano eNabler molecular printer, the ViriChip platform can have a major impact in biodefense by creating ultraminiaturized biodetection devices.

BioForce Nanosciences has three major product focus areas: 1) instrumentation, 2) consumables, and 3) applications. The ViriChip platform is just one application that BioForce's R&D department has developed using the Nano eNabler system. The ViriChip technology is sensitive and specific enough to detect a variety of different pathogens based on the availability of capture reagents. These could include environmental pathogens (Noroviruses, coxsackieviruses, etc.), pathogens relevant to biodefense (smallpox, hemorrhagic fever viruses), animal and plant viruses (foot and mouth disease, rinderpest, Avian influenza, West Nile), and human disease agents (Human papillomavirus, herpes viruses, SARS).

BioForce Nanosciences is working to gain government and other support for the ViriChip platform to assist with biodefense, food safety, and pandemic diseases. "We want to create opportunities to inform scientific leaders and decision makers about the importance of nanotechnology in the life sciences," says Dr. Eric Henderson, BioForce's founder and chief executive officer. "We believe that the technology embodied in our recently released Nano eNabler system has the potential to impact nanotechnology in the life sciences in a profound way."