User:Jonathan Cline/Notebook/Melaminometer/Brainstorming: Difference between revisions

__TOC__

* [http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=8Adjzxp7BP8 DEVELOPMENT OF BIOSENSORS FOR DETECTING HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS (Natalie Sarange Omattage, 2008 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair)]

** Food additives contaminated with cyanuricacid and melamine were responsible for recent deaths of many pets. Food imports are currently  beingscreened using chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods (e.g. HPLC & GC-MS/MS). Although these methods are very sensitive, the instruments as well as the reagents are expensive and require highly trained personnel to operate.  

** Although cyanuric acid binding peptide demonstrated better mass accumulation rates than the melamine binding peptide, both peptides were capable of detecting their respective ligands at concentrations as low as '''1.25 parts per billion (ppb)''' during the '''first five minutes''' of the experiment.

** Cyanuric acid and Melamine binding peptides coupled to a '''gold binding peptide''' sequence are currently being developed to increase the '''peptide density and sensitivity''' of the assay. Biosensors with synthetic peptides could decrease the detection limit to pico-molarconcentrations of the ligands. QCM instruments are portable, cost much less than GC-MS setups, and do not require highly trained personnel to operate. Therefore, QCM based biosensors may be used at ports and warehouses to more thoroughly screen food additives imported into the United States. In addition to food contaminants, the QCM based biosensors may also be employed to detect other harmful chemicals.

== Dry Lab Design Method ==