Online News--Tiny Cell-Based Chemical Detectors Offer Protection Potential
A highly sensitive, inexpensive "lab-on-a-chip" has been found to provide warning within seconds of trace amounts of toxic chemicals in water.
A highly sensitive, inexpensive "lab-on-a-chip" that provides warning within seconds of even trace amounts of toxic chemicals in water was designed and demonstrated recently by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientists and collaborators.
The prototype sensor system monitors the natural response of bacterial cells bound within the microscopic channels of a plastic microfluidics device--a miniaturized chemical and biochemical analysis system. In the presence of certain chemicals, the cells eject large amounts of potassium, which is detected with an optical sensor that changes color.