ATLANTA -- A French water management firm chose Atlanta Friday as the U.S. test site for a revolutionary DNA chip that can detect up to 400,000 organisms in drinking water, a development that could dramatically reduce waterborne disease.
Lyonnaise des Eaux, the water division of the French conglomerate Suez-Lyonnaise des Eaux, said the testing period for the DNA chip would last up to two years.Thierry Bourbie, president of the French company's international division, told Reuters the DNA technology works by matching the genetic fingerprints of bacteria and viruses.
"It gives genetic fingerprints that are very precise," he said. "It says whether a microorganism is alive or dead. It will allow corrective measures to be taken very quickly because of the speed of its diagnosis."
Bourbie said with current technology, it takes several days to diagnose a waterborne virus, and it could take weeks for a complete analysis of the organism. With the DNA technology the time lag drops to four hours at one-tenth the cost.
Key to cost savings is that the DNA chip measures dozens of organisms in a single test. With existing technology, a specific test is required for each microorganism.
The DNA chip holds the potential to reduce the incidence of such waterborne diseases as polio, guinea worm disease and amoebic dysentery.
Patricia Renaud, who heads the research department at Lyonnaise des Eaux, said it could also cut the risk that someone could deliberately poison a water supply as an act of germ warfare.
"That is precisely what it would do," she said.
The DNA chip was Renaud's idea. She said the surface of a chip would contain "the DNA we want to screen for in water." "We can match up to 400,000 DNA sequences," she said.