Supervisor: Dr. G. Keefe
Thesis title: "Biomedical Infrared Technologies, for Assessment of Bovine Immunity and Immunoglobulin Based Therapeutic Products."
Description of project:
Scientists at the University of Prince Edward Island's Atlantic Veterinary College have developed a novel Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic assay for the detection and identification of immumoglobulins and their associated disorders. While many assays exist for the determination of immunoglobulins, including the gold-standard radial immunodiffusion assay, our technology has the commercially attractive features in that it has a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy comparable to the gold-standard, while being lower cost, reagent-free, and generates results in minutes rather than hours. This project has been developed to extend the FTIR assay method to quantify Igs (IgG, IgA and IgM) concentrations in bovine samples (serum and colostrum), diagnosis of failure of passive immunity transfer (FPT) in calves and quality control for commercial Ig products as serum and colostrum replacement products.
