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Research
Environmental Monitoring
Biosensors can be used to help detect trace quantities of pathogens in air, water, food, and medicines. These applications are especially challenging because contaminants must be detected at very low concentrations with a test sample that may contain high concentrations of many other “interfering” materials. Some of these applications are even more challenging because a test procedure should be as simple as possible, so detection can be performed without highly specialized skills, a complicated procedure, or many additional chemicals. We have been using photonic crystal sensors to directly detect virus particles, bacteria, and spores through their increased dielectric permittivity when they attach to the sensor surface. This type of “direct” or “label-free” detection method does not require any additional reagents, although the sensor must be prepared in advance so that it can recognize and bind only the desired pathogen from a test sample. The ability to selectively detect a target analyte while ignoring all others can be achieved by attaching highly specific capture molecules to the biosensor surface. Nature has developed such molecules in the form of antibodies that can be obtained that specifically recognize proteins expressed on the outer surfaces of pathogens. In conjunction with the appropriate filtering and sample gathering method, the biosensors are capable of detecting low numbers of viral particles and individual spore particles.
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 Research Areas
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