Scrapie detection to the rescue
Researchers develop new device to quickly identify degenerative disease

By Christine Eisler

Detecting scrapie and other related degenerative diseases could soon be easier, thanks to a sensor developed by University of Guelph researchers.

Professors Gordon Hayward and Warren Stiver of the School of Engineering have created a device that can detect protein particles called prions, which are thought to be at the root of degenerative diseases such as scrapie.

"Our goal is to develop a quick and inexpensive way to detect the prions that cause these deadly diseases," says Stiver. "We hope everyone from meat inspectors to veterinarians will have access to it."

Scrapie is a fatal degenerative disease affecting the central nervous system of sheep. It is traditionally detected by euthanizing suspected animals and submitting brain material for laboratory testing.

But the Guelph team's device, called an acoustic prion sensor, is being developed for use on live animals and provides results in about two hours. It uses quartz crystals to detect when prion proteins abnormally miss-fold in samples taken from the environment, nerve tissue or bodily fluids. The researchers say the instrument's speed and accuracy mean that infected animals can be more easily pinpointed, reducing the need to dispose of entire herds to eradicate the disease. They also say it could be used for other degenerative diseases in the same family as scrapie, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, chronic wasting disease in elk and deer and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

With further development of the sensor, Hayward and Stiver hope to see this technology used routinely for exports to eliminate the need for border closures. This could prevent drastic export losses such as those seen in the 2002 BSE crisis. The initial detection of an infected cow in Alberta cost the Canadian economy $6.3 billion before a U.S. ban on Canadian beef imports was lifted in 2005.

"We have proven the principle," says Hayward. "We intend to expand the evidence and answer important questions to support the development of a commercial device."

The Guelph team worked with research partner Dr. A. Balachandran at the National Reference Laboratory for Scrapie and Chronic Wasting Disease of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Ottawa to develop the sensor.

Financial support was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, PrioNet Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Warren Stiver, 519-824-4120 ext. 54862

Christine Eisler was a writer with SPARK (Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge), a student research writing program at the University of Guelph.

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