DURHAM, N.C., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Xenobiotic Detection Systems, Inc. (XDS) announced that their most recent patent application Patent number US 6,720,431 B2 has been approved.
XDS consultant (and former XDS laboratory director) Michael Chu and President George Clark combined their research skills to develop a rapid and relatively inexpensive methodology to quantify TEQs (Toxic Equivalence -- a measure of dioxin-like chemical toxicity adopted by the World Health Organization) for this class of toxic chemicals.
Many of the world's most harmful environmental toxins can be characterized into compounds called polyhalogenated diaromatic hydrocarbons (PHDH). These compounds include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), polybrominatedand dibenzofurans (PBDF), and Polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins, and a number of other subclasses of PHDH. Exposure to and bioaccumulation of PHDH in tissues have been observed to produce a number of harmful effects including tumor production, birth defects, and death.
Based upon the previously patented CALUX(R) By XDS (US Patent 5,854,010), Chu and Clark have developed a method for separating the PHDH TEQs of the polychlorinated dioxin/furan (PCDD and PCDF) subgroup from the TEQs of the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and reporting these results separately. This new method is a major step forward in toxin detection as it allows for multiple analysis results from one PHDH laboratory sample. This saves time and is extremely cost efficient for both research and general public applications. The new process also provides a method for eliminating from analysis compounds that are not of the PHDH chemical group.
"We are delighted to receive this validation of our research and methods of analysis," stated Clark. "Using this method with our XDS CALUX(R) bioassay, it is now possible to receive timely, sensitive, accurate, and detailed information of specific toxic compounds in our environment. Our whole XDS team worked hard to perfect this process."
About XDS
Dr. Clark and Dr. Michael S. Denison, a Professor at the University of California at Davis, founded XDS in 1995 and based the company's development on modern methods of molecular biology. The CALUX (R) by XDS bioassay for dioxin-like chemicals employs mammalian cell lines genetically engineered to contain the gene for luciferase, an enzyme fireflies use to produce light. In the patented XDS CALUX(R) process, firefly luciferase is produced when dioxin- like chemicals are presented to the cells. The process provides detection of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds at detection levels below one part per trillion, and is 40% to 70% less expensive than traditional analyses.
Development of the CALUX(R) technology by XDS was supported by Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant (1R43 ES08327-01 & 2R44 ES08372-02) from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
(R) Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Xenobiotic Detection Systems, Inc.CONTACT: George C. Clark Dr.P.H., +1-919-688-4804, or +1-888-DIOXINS, orGeorgeClark@dioxins.com
Web site: http://www.dioxins.com/