A modified yeast strain was developed by National Institute of Standards and Technology researchers to safely train first responders in biothreat handling, particularly in suspicious powders incidents.
The modified yeast strain, or surrogate, was developed for practice in detecting dangerous substances, NIST said said in a news release issued Jan. 4. Those dangerous substances can include viral or bacterial pathogens such as anthrax and smallpox.
"Suspicious powder incidents occur regularly throughout the U.S., so first responders need routine training including simulated biothreat scenarios," Sandra Da Silva, NIST bio materials group researcher, said in the news release. "There was a need to make this training accessible while also avoiding exposure to a real pathogen. With support from the Department of Homeland Security, we came up with this yeast reference material to support local training in a safe manner."
First responders often respond to accidents or emergencies, including building fires or toxic spills, and it soon can become clear that threats from biological agents are present when they respond. NIST developed the reference material based on yeast cells to stand in place of biological agents, which allows first responders to train for those sorts of emergencies in a safe and careful manner, according to the news release.
Unlike the viral or bacterial pathogens first responders may encounter in real-life accidents or emergencies, baker's yeast is a harmless, living biological material that causes no threats, even if it escapes the scene. Training with yeast gives first responders opportunities to contain the surrogate, even deactivate it, as they would with viral or bacterial pathogens in accidents and emergencies, the release reported.
"First responders could choose to take a biothreat agent and inactivate it, so it doesn’t grow or cause disease," NIST researcher Nancy Lin said in the news release. "But it could still be unsettling for the public when they hear that a training exercise in their local area is using anthrax or smallpox, even if you try to explain that it has been inactivated and you're using it safely. Using a nonharmful material such as baker's yeast, which is used to make bread, can avoid this situation."
