Dr. Peter A Burke, the senior vice president and chief technology officer of STERIS Corporation, visited Hamilton College on February 26 to present a lecture titled "Bioterrorism: Challenges of Detection & Decontamination."
Burke began his lecture by giving a corporate overview of the STERIS Corporation. STERIS, a global leader in contamination prevention products and services, employs more than 5,000 people world wide and has annual sales of more than $1 billion. STERIS Corporation's key markets include surgical services, life sciences, contract sterilization and biochemical contamination.
Biological warfare, Burke explained, is the use of microorganisms or toxins from living organisms, including bacterial agents, viruses, and biological toxins, to achieve a certain, oftentimes harmful, end.
He then described the advantages (from a terrorist's point of view) of using biological agents during terrorism, focusing specifically on the "advantages" of anthrax and smallpox. Both have high mortality rates if used and are transmitted easily either through inhalation or through human contact. Burke also provided the audience with a microscopic look at both anthrax and smallpox.
Moving onto the lecture's topic, Dr. Burke explained the various microbiological detection systems use in detecting biological contamination and also the various services provided by STERIS Corporation. Contamination, he said, can be detected many ways, including through traditional cultures, PCR (Polymerase chain reactions), protein or lip diction, antibody-antibody sandwiching, and polypeptide based reactions. Dr. Burke outlined the pros and cons of each test, and also explained the new detection technologies currently being developed at research institutions.
Not all biological contaminations are equivalent, Dr. Burke clarified; for instance, bacterial spores are the hardest to kill while the easiest to eliminate are enveloped viruses like influenza. Therefore, different detection and decontamination processes are used for different types of contamination.
Burke then described different decontamination methods: heat, radiation, filtration and chemical use. He then explained in-depth the manual disinfection method used by STERIS: the patented procedure VHP, or Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide.
After finishing discussing new studies in the area of decontamination, Dr. Burke answered questions. His lecture was organized by Biology Matters.
The club Biology Matters seeks "to further education and enthusiasm in biology for the Hamilton and Clinton Community." Members are involved in community outreach and bringing both outside and internal biologists to speak for our members and the general Hamilton community; they also seek to further the relationships between Biology students and faculty. Biology Matters meets every Monday at 8 p.m. in the Biology Lounge.
-- by Emily Lemanczyk '05
