3 June 2025 13h00-13h30
Zacharie Paquet (DLD-bio)
Ricin is a lethal and readily available plant toxin from Ricinus Communis. Recent events, such as the Cologne terrorist plot, have continuously demonstrated the need for qualitative and readily available tools to detect this potential biowarfare agent in the field. To answer this threat, the Belgian Defense sought to develop a robust ricin detection and identification laboratory pipeline, by combining the expertise of the Biological Laboratory (DLD-Bio) and the Chemical Analysis Laboratory (DLD-CA). The strategy of the RICIDIV project was threefold: generate quality reference material; develop and optimise detection and identification assays; validate the assays on an array of relevant matrices. Collaborative efforts with the Centre for Synthetic Biology (UGent), and with PharmAbs (KU Leuven), generated quality material to be used for the development of assays. This includes both synthetic ricin chains (for reasons of biosafety and homogeneity), and in-house anti-ricin antibodies. The latter were produced using the novel MabMine platform. The ricin pipeline developed for the Belgian Defense comprises of three types of assays: on-site screening techniques (lateral flow assays), reach-back cross-confirmation methods (ELISA, LC-MS, activity assays) and optimised sample preparation when dealing with difficult matrices. This webinar will provide a comprehensive overview of the background, and the results of the project. It will also present future aims, including testing the pipeline on the field under “real-life” conditions.
Teams link will be communicated soon.