Multiplexed Waterborne Pathogen Detection Using DNA Microarrays

The objective of this study was to develop deeply multiplexed hybridization assays to simultaneously detect different pathogen groups in water. Multiplexing was achieved by adapting DNA microarray technology (principally used in the clinical setting) to environmental systems. The advantages of these techniques include significantly reduced time to detection (from weeks to hours for enteric viruses), sensitivity (optimized protocols can detect as few as 1-10 organisms per reaction), specificity (optimized protocols can detect pathogens of interest and distinguish these from near neighbors that are not pathogens), and recalcitrant organisms (molecular tools may be the only reliable method for detecting human noroviruses.