This device uses modified (genetic engineered) bacteria that responds to certain toxins in a water source. The bacteria's response is detected by sensors on a very small chip. We call this a biosensor because it utilized biological forms to monitor something.
The importance of safe drinking water for human survival cannot be overstated.
Clean water is essential to human survival. We need it for drinking, cleaning, farming, and cooking.
Water can easily be contaminated by parasites and there are growing concerns of terrorism in the form of tampering with a water supply on a large scale. The ability to test water quality is an invaluable tool today and a great application of this remarkable technology.
In the appropriate conditions (for example ambient temperature), this device allows the convenient testing of water sources. For example, in the battlefield, or in a second world country, these may be extremely applicable.
If one wanted to test the toxicity of a water source their only option was to send a sample to a laboratory for testing. This is very costly and takes a very long time. This is why the new technology, which provides a cheap and instantaneous analysis, in development by Hadar Ben-Yoav, is so remarkable.
Comparison of time and cost of analysis in lab versus biosensor
(I will create a bar chart. It will show
the average time needed to test water and cost when sent for lab
analysis. It will also show the instant time need and approximate time
needed to test water using biosensor).
Mr Ben-Yoav collaborated with Prof. Yosi
Shacham-Diamand from Tel Aviv University, Israel, Prof.
Amihay Freeman from Tel Aviv University, Israel, and Prof.
Shimshon Belkin from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Hadar Ben-Yoav Institute for Systems Research Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Maryland
Prof. Yosi
Shacham-Diamand from Tel Aviv University, Israel
Prof.
Amihay Freeman from Tel Aviv University, Israel
Prof.
Shimshon Belkin from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Read more about this topic: http://aem.asm.org/content/64/3/1006.full
