The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 08, 2002
Filed:
Jun. 15, 2000
Stuart Mark Wilson, London, GB;
Biotec Laboratories Limited, Ipswich, GB;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method for enhancing the time of response of an assay for a first bacterium, wherein: a) the first bacterium is exposed to infection by phage particles to which the first bacterium is permissive; b) the infected bacterium is treated to inactivate exogenous phage particles; c) the treated bacterium is cultivated in the presence of a second bacterium which is permissive to infection by the phage or its replicand and which has a doubling rate greater than the effective doubling rate of the first bacterium; and d) assessing the extent of plaque formation and/or of second bacterium growth in the cultivated second bacterium cells. The method can be used to assess the presence of first bacterium in a sample, notably where the first bacterium is a slow growing bacterium, such as , where the method enables an operator to detect the presence of low amounts of the bacterium in sample within days instead of weeks as required by conventional cultivation techniques. The invention can also be used to assess the effect of a drug or other treatment on a bacterium or on a virus. The invention also provides a diagnostic kit for use in the method of the invention.