Every day, sick patients go to their doctors. For a while,
physicians can be flying blind. Is it a virus or a bacterium? If
it's a virus, what kind? Nailing down these basics means taking
time away from treating patients and potentially stopping the
spread of an illness - issues that have taken on added urgency
in recent years as the threat of bioterrorism has grown. After
the Sept. 11 attacks, the federal government said it would
increase funding for bioterrorism prevention. As doctors and
biologists met at Vanderbilt University, pediatrician James
Crowe said they saw they could work together on the issue. Crowe
teamed with David Wright of the chemistry department to focus on
tiny microorganisms. Over time, the two have expanded their
research to more conventional targets like influenza. Their work
focuses on using quantum dots - essentially minute
semiconductors - to speed up detection of respiratory viruses to
mere hours. "The results we get are more than if I worked on a
part and Jim worked on a part and