Phytoxigene licenses guanitoxin gene technology from University of California - San Diego and now have launched a multiplex assay for the detection of anatoxin and guanitoxin production genes.
A new freshwater monitoring tool, which can detect a lethal toxin called guanitoxin in freshwater sources, is now available to public health officials thanks to technology developed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the University of São Paulo.
This novel technology has been licensed to the Australian company Diagnostic Technology, which is now offering guanitoxin monitoring kits under the brand Phytoxigene.
“It was really gratifying to be able to unlock how nature has solved this ability to make this toxin,” Scripps Oceanography marine chemical biologist Bradley Moore said about the research that led to the kits.
Guanitoxin is one of several neurotoxins produced by cyanobacteria, which proliferate to form harmful cyanobacterial blooms (cyanoHABs) in lakes and ponds.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) and cyanoHABs can contaminate tap water reservoirs and have caused significant public health emergencies. In 2014, Toledo, Ohio issued a “do not drink” advisory after a HAB outbreak led to toxins other than guanitoxin entering the city’s tap water supply. Essential healthcare treatments such as dialysis and surgery had to be halted. Additionally, people who swim in waters with HABs have suffered adverse health effects, ranging from vomiting to neurological impairment. These toxins have also been responsible for a number of dog deaths.