Boulder-based ASD’s device being used in fight against Zika Virus

BOULDER — A Boulder company that’s been making analytical devices for a variety of industries and applications for 26 years now has a role in the fight against the Zika virus.

ASD Inc., announced Wednesday that researchers at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia, are using the company’s LabSpec device in their quest to develop a tactic to reduce the number of mosquitoes carrying both the Zika and Dengue viruses.

Zika has gained notoriety over the past year as it has spread to new parts of the world. In addition to causing mild illness in adults, it has also been known to cause birth defects such as microcephaly. Dengue, meanwhile, can result in fevers, headaches, rashes and severe joint pain, and is a major cause of death in certain parts of the world.

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The researchers in Australia are basing their current efforts on research that has shown that mosquitoes infected with a specific strain of Wolbachia bacteria greatly reduces the likelihood that those mosquitoes will carry Zika or Dengue. Wolbachia occurs naturally in mosquitoes but hasn’t yet spread widely to the species of the insect that carries Zika and Dengue.

To spread that bacteria, infected mosquitoes must be released in several locations, and then researchers must be able to measure whether each release was successful or whether additional releases are needed. Analyzing the wild populations can be a costly and time-consuming endeavor.

But the team from Australia, led by Maggy Sikulu-Lord, have developed a method using ASD’s LabSpec device by which they can rapidly measure with 85 percent to 95 percent accuracy whether Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes released into an area are effectively spreading the bacteria.

After wild mosquitoes are trapped, the LabSpec device shines white light onto individual insects and collects and analyzes the light reflected back. Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes generally show a unique pattern in the spectrum of reflected light.

ASD cofounder and chief technical officer Brian Curtiss said the company’s device can cost $40,000 to $60,000 apiece. But at 10 pounds, it’s designed to be portable and can be run off of a battery or plugged into vehicles in the field. It also allows researchers to analyze hundreds of mosquitoes in a day versus a dozen or so a day using a process of grinding the mosquitoes up and analyzing them in a lab.

“This information will enable quick identification of high-risk areas, prioritize efforts and resources and measure the impacts of vector control interventions,” Sikulu-Lord said in a news release.

Curtiss cofounded ASD — originally known as Analytical Spectral Devices — with University of Colorado professor Alexander Goetz in 1990. The company was acquired by Panalytical in 2012 but still operates as a standalone subsidiary.

ASD’s devices have been based on the same technology of spectrum analysis from the beginning. But while some versions can be used to look at items up close like mosquitoes or in analyzing, say, breeding varieties of tomatoes to learn about their flavor characteristics, other versions can be used to measure things like satellite imagery to understand how land-surface properties link to climate change.

Curtiss declined to disclose revenue of ASD, but said the company is growing and has added four or five employees in recent months to push its count close to 50.

He said there are roughly a half dozen organizations around the world using ASD devices for mosquito research. Curtiss said being able to play a role in a high-profile fight against Zika is not only good for visibility but also in the company’s own mission to help create a better world.

“Part of it for us is we are in business, but we also like to do good things,” Curtiss said.