Sensing Lead in the Environment.A lead-detecting sensor developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Early years: 1867-1880 The Morrill Act of 1862 granted each state in the United States a portion of land on which to establish a major public state university, one which could teach agriculture, mechanic arts, and military training, "without excluding other scientific is less expensive and less complicated than current methods and can be used to obtain real-time, on-site data. The sensor employs small pieces of DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. that were discovered through an in vitro in vitro /in vi·tro/ (in ve´tro) [L.] within a glass; observable in a test tube; in an artificial environment. in vi·tro adj. In an artificial environment outside a living organism. selection process to be sensitive to lead. Researchers manipulated the single-strand DNA to create a special site at which the metal ion would bond. A fluorescent tag In molecular biology and biotechnology, a fluorescent tag is a part of a molecule that researchers have attached chemically to aid in detection of the molecule to which it has been attached. The tag is some kind of fluorescent molecule (also known as fluorophore). has been added to the DNA to boost the sensor's detection abilities. The sensor can be used for environmental and industrial monitoring as well as for clinical toxicology applications. Researchers believe that the principles used to develop this sensor can be applied to obtain DNA biosensors for other metals such as mercury, cadmium, calcium, and potassium. |
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