Luminex's xMAP Biothreat Toxin Panel now available for detecting dangerous biotoxins

Quickly detecting and identifying dangerous biotoxins is now a reality, thanks to the xMAP® Biothreat Toxin Panel (BTP) by Luminex. The xMAP Biothreat Toxin Panel is the first multiplex assay to rapidly detect and identify the six most easily acquired and most dangerous biotoxins. All six of these biotoxins are on the US government's list of most dangerous substances.

The ability to simultaneously test for a panel of markers increases efficiency and enables government and public health laboratories to rapidly respond to events that may threaten the nation's food supply. Currently, there are some very good, high performance, single-plex assays as well as lower performance, simple-to-use, lateral flow assays available. However, there has been a general lack of commercially available, high performance, multiplex assays for protein-based and small molecule toxins. The xMAP Biothreat Toxin Panel was designed to fill the need for a high-performance multiplex screening assay.

Individually, Botulinum toxin isoforms A, B, E, F, Ricin, and Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B have the potential to pose a severe threat to human health if accidentally or intentionally introduced to our nation's food supply. To combat this threat, US and foreign governments have created biosurveillance and emergency response networks such as FERN (US Food Emergency Response Network) to monitor the safety of their food supplies. This test can be used by domestic and foreign agencies to ensure the safety of various food products on the market.

The xMAP Biothreat Toxin Panel is a multiplexed immunoassay intended for the simultaneous qualitative detection and identification of multiple biological toxins in a variety of sample matrices, including Botulinum toxins, Ricin, and Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B. xMAP Biothreat Toxin Panel is for Research Use Only, and not for use in Diagnostic procedures.