PROFILE
 

Corporate
The Company
Early Warning is a developer of Biohazard Analyzers that directly measure the total and viable cell concentrations of individual species of bacteria, viruses and protozoa parasites. The Analyzer employs a revolutionary nanotechnology-based biosensor exclusively licensed from NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Early Warning and NASA have also entered into a 5-year Space Act Agreement to develop biosensor enhancements.
Locations
Early Warning has offices and development activities in Troy, NY; Mountain View, CA; Waterloo, ON; Montreal, QC; Salt Lake City, UT; and Manhattan, KS. Over 30 engineers and scientists are involved in product development.


Core Technologies

Biosensor
NASA’s biosensor works when a single strand of nucleic acid in a target solution comes into contact with a matching strand of nucleic acid attached to the end of an ultra-conductive nanowire or nanotube. The matching strands form a double helix that generates an electrical signal which is used to determine the presence of specific microorganisms in the sample. Because of their tiny size, millions of nanowires can fit on a single biosensor chip allowing identification of very low cell counts. Early Warning has also developed its own intellectual property pertaining to electrochemical biosensing devices, detecting multiple organisms at the same time, detecting molecules over a wide range of concentrations, and mass fabrication methods.
Concentrator
Early Warning has developed its own intellectual property pertaining to automatically extracting 10 Liters or more of water and condensing target molecules into a few milliliters of highly concentrated analyte for use with molecular detection.


Product Applications
Water
Early Warning’s Biohazard Water Analyzer is configured to detect the presence of both common and rare strains of pathogens associated with waterborne illnesses including E. coli indicator, E.coli O157:H7, Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and various waterborne bacteria and viruses. Water agencies, food & beverage companies, industrial plants, hospitals, airlines, and recreational water facilities could use the portable and wireless water analyzers without needing a laboratory or technicians. The Biohazard Water Analyzer will be released in the second half of 2009. Pre-release Beta systems are currently undergoing field testing in various sites and water systems.
Other Applications
Early Warning is developing related Biohazard Analyzers for food and human safety.
  
 
 
 
Nanotechnology pioneers NASA’s Meyya Meyyappan, chief scientist for exploration technology and former director of the Center for Nanotechnology at Ames Research Center (left) and Early Warning’s President Neil Gordon examine a prototype of NASA’s nanotechnology-based biosensor licensed to Early Warning. (Source: NASA)