US Patent 7993844 Artificial chimeras engineered to simulate multiple biological threat agents

This invention provides safe, non-infectious chimeras that include the nucleic acid signature of most bacterial and viral biological threat agents. These chimeras mimic properties of threat agents and are useful as simulants to develop, evaluate, test, and train on nucleic acid-based biodetectors and diagnostic products of interest in biodefense, without the need for accessing or producing virulent agents.