biosensing
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Megaframe Imager takes its one million frames-per-second capabilities to the medical world
The iconic Megaframe Imager has been kicking for a good while now, but gurus have been scratching their heads in an effort to figure out how to best take advantage of a sensor that can capture one million frames per second. A European consortium made up of the NPL, ST Microelectronics, the University of Edinburgh, and TU Delft have something in mind, and not surprisingly, it's in the medical realm. Researchers are currently looking to use this here device in "cellular / sub-cellular imaging; neural imaging; biochemical sensors; DNA / protein microarray scanning; automotive collision studies; and high-sensitivity astronomical observations," and for the first time, tests are proving that it could be a vital tool in the future of biosensing. Tangled in technobabble? Here's the long and short of it: a crew has demonstrated "detection of viral DNA binding events using fluorescence lifetime imaging at the very low target concentrations relevant in biosensing applications with acquisition times of less than 30 seconds," something that should be useful in disease screening, mutation and forensic analysis. So much for escaping the jargon, huh?
Biosensing nanodevice could hasten security checks, health screenings
We'll go ahead and warn you: if you're hoping to purge your mind of all things science this weekend, this post isn't the one to be reading. For the rest of you knowledge seekers, Arizona State University researcher Wayne Frasch has developed a biosensing nanodevice that could possibly revolutionize health screenings and speed up that grueling airport security process. Put simply (well, as simply as possible), he discovered that the enzyme F1– ATPase can be equipped with an optical probe and "manipulated to emit a signal when it detects a single molecule of target DNA." Currently, a prototype of the DNA detector is already being worked up, but there's no word on when (or if) the device will escape the lab and hit the commercial realm. Still not geeked out? Hit the read link and hold on for dear life.[Via Physorg]
