Israeli Invention Fights Bio-terrorism

December 3, 2006

Israeli scientist Alex Keinan is known in the industry as a “serial inventor.” He has been inventing since the age of 16. Now, with the help of his friends, Keinan has developed a bio-detector for real-time bioterrorism detection – the BAS101. Biological Alarm Systems Ltd, which will launch the product, is a start-up company within the Technological Incubator Program. This program is made up of support corporations that give fledgling entrepreneurs an opportunity to develop their innovative technological ideas and set up new businesses in order to commercialize them.

The BAS101 is a high performance, selective compact alarm system for the continuous rapid detection of biological hazards in public places. In an interview with Israel Mosaic Radio in Jerusalem, company consultant Simon Berkovitch said that the BAS101 is like “a smoke detector.”

“It can alert you to a threat,” he said. “The major difference between a smoke detector, as far as biological hazards are concerned, is that we don’t just alert to the presence of a threat. We can determine what kind of biological agent is present in the given area. It is actually a system that can determine the danger on the spot.”

The BAS101 is compact in size (10 pounds or 4.5 kilograms) and has a short response time. “You only need a very small amount of a biological agent to cause great damage, so the monitor has to be extremely sensitive,” Berkovitch explained.

Keinan immigrated from the Soviet Union to Israel in 1974. “He has been active in Israeli incubator projects for more than twenty years and was involved when the whole incubator program first kicked off. This is his own project, and he received excellent professional back-up from biological specialists from the University of Ben Gurion and Bar-Ilan University, so it is a very professional achievement,” Berkovitch said.

The BAS101 now awaits a partner to work with Keinan and his team to fund the manufacture and marketing of the unit. Berkovitch said there were United States companies keenly interested in the invention. Keinan is confident his latest invention will make its way into the war on terror and hopefully will save many lives.

It seems appropriate that a “serial inventor” should gain a powerful victory over a “serial killer.” It also seems appropriate that such excellence comes once again from Israel.

For more information: Alex Keinan, 972-54-466-9984, [email protected], www.basdetect.com

By Ron Ross, Israel Mosaic Radio

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