High-throughput field-deployable optical detection of biohazards relevant for national security

Australia's national-security, defence and public-health agencies need better methods to rapidly detect and identify hazardous micro-organisms such as Anthrax, as a safeguard against the threat of epidemics and bio-terrorism. We aim to fill the gap in defence capability for rapid, field deployable and accurate detection of microbial pathogens by employing the synergetic combination of fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy for sensitive bacterial fingerprinting.