After 9/11, there were several new forms of terrorist
attacks. Among them, envelopes with white powder were sent to banks, political,
and government buildings within the United States which caused the deaths of
five individuals. The white powder was found to be anthrax, a bacteria called
bacillus anthracis which causes a serious infectious disease. Inhalation of
anthrax spores infects the body through the lungs. Anthrax releases several
toxic substances and an infection of the lungs if left untreated is usually
fatal.
The most crucial factor in identifying anthrax is to
identify the diseases’ protein. This is currently done using antibodies.
However, the production of antibodies is costly and the process is complicated.
In addition, it is easily affected by environmental factors such as humidity
and temperature. This makes it hard to preserve its effectiveness. This is also
the reason why pregnancy test kits, which also use antibodies, are vacuum
packed.