BioWorld International Correspondent

BORNHEIM, Germany - GeneScan Europe AG and Motorola Inc. unit Clinical Microsensors (CMS) agreed to a collaboration to develop devices for the detection of GM crops.

The devices will be based on CMS's eSensor-technology, which uses organic molecules to form electronic circuits to detect and quantify many different DNA targets at once. The chips contain signal molecules and target-specific capture molecules. If the capture molecule binds its specific DNA target, the bridge between signaling and capture molecule closes, resulting in a detectable electric signal.

The eSensor detection platform already has been shown effective in studies detecting panels of bacterial or viral targets and SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), the most common form of genetic mutation in humans, plants and animals, CMS, of Pasadena, Calif., said.

"The eSensor detection technology opens the door to eventual on-site analyses using a hand-held device," said GeneScan spokeswoman Annette Siebers. "In the future you will be able to take the test sample from a plant, crush it, add a special buffer and check immediately which kind of plant you are dealing with," she told BioWorld International.

GeneScan, of Freiburg, Germany, has a core competence in food and crop analysis. It has developed specific DNA probes and quantification systems for the detection of genetically modified crop varieties, and provides associated products and services.

GeneScan's part in the collaboration is development of standard operating procedures for breaking down samples and providing DNA probes necessary to design the capture molecules and signaling molecules.