Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for the detection of biological agents and, in particular, biological agents that may present a health hazard. In one embodiment, the invention identifies the unidentified biological agent, assesses the reliability of the identification, and if determined to be reliable, outputs the identification. Initially, data that relates to the biological composition of an unidentified biological agent is received. The data is then analyzed with a machine learning procedure to identify the unidentified biological agent in the sample. The reliability of the identification is then assessed with, for example, an analysis of MS/MS data on the unidentified biological agent. If the identification is found to be reliable, the identification is output.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a method for determining whether a particular bacteria is present in a liquid mixture of biological material. In one embodiment, the invention comprises the steps of providing a sampling structure comprised of a body to which antibodies for a particular type of bacteria have been bonded and exposing the sampling structure to a liquid medium that may contain whole cell bacteria for the particular type of bacteria. If such bacteria are present, there is a likelihood that the antibodies will capture some of the bacteria. The method further comprises performing a separation operation to remove materials located adjacent to the sampling structure that may corrupt a subsequent MALDI-TOF analysis, preparing the sampling structure surface with any captured bacteria for MALDI-TOF analysis, subjecting any captured bacteria to a MALDI-TOF analysis to produce a mass spectrum, and analyzing the mass spectrum determine if the particular type of bacteria is present in the liquid mixture.