The Daily Bulletin Archive

Elisabeth Barone, a graduate student in forensic science at Buffalo State, will present the literature seminar "Forensic Applications of Immunoassays" at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, November 19, in Classroom Building B119. Light refreshments will be served before the seminar. This seminar is supported by the Faculty-Student Association. The abstract of her talk appears as below.

Abstract
An immunoassay is a type of bioanalytical test where the detection of a target compound (analyte) depends on a specific antibody-antigen reaction. Antibodies are large proteins produced by the immune system in response to the presence of antigens. Antigens are foreign compounds that can come from the environment or originate from within the body. Antibodies are known as highly specific proteins because they will only bind to their target antigen. By using a purified antigen or antibody with a signal-generating label, one can detect the presence of an antibody-antigen complex. Several different types of immunoassay methods have emerged over the years, but they all require three main components: an analyte, an antibody, and a signal-generating label. Immunoassays are popular tests used in medical diagnostics and pharmacology studies. They are also important in forensic science. This seminar will focus on two forensic applications of immunoassays: their ability to detect trace amounts of drug in money and fingerprints, and their ability to detect explosive residues.

When illegal drugs such as cocaine are found on money, they may help link physical evidence (money) to drug trafficking. If cocaine is found in a person’s fingerprints, it can show that the person was either using cocaine or in direct contact with it. Money and latent fingermarks are typically analyzed in the forensic lab with expensive chromatographic methods and mass spectrometry. Though these methods are quite accurate, they can be time-consuming and costly. Development of a competitive enzyme immunoassay has shown promise in quantifying cocaine from both banknotes and fingermarks. 2 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, better known as TNT, is a popular explosive because it is easy to manufacture and has strong explosive properties. If located in sites where explosions have occurred, TNT can help forensic investigators study the source of the explosion. Though liquid chromatography and gas chromatography techniques are typically employed to detect TNT, development of immunoassay tests for TNT detection have become popular. Two tests in particular have been evaluated for their ability to detect TNT. These include a chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CL-ELISA), and a colorimetric lateral flow assay.