Thursday, August 7, 2008

Tufts team makes tiny seeing sensor from silk

By Mass High Tech Staff

Researchers at Tufts University have developed an edible nanoscale optical sensor, according to the school.

The sensor could be used to detect bacteria in bags of produce and then eaten. It could also monitor levels of glucose in the blood, and then dissolve, Tufts said.

Researchers at the college’s school of engineering demonstrated a sensor combining sophisticated nanoscale optics with biological readout functions. Using fibers from silkworms, the researchers developed sensors that are biocompatible and biodegradable, and can be manufactured and stored at room temperatures without the use of toxic chemicals.

Tufts said it has filed applications for patents based on the silk-based optics, and plans to commercialize the technology. The technology has applications in human and livestock health, environmental monitoring and food quality.

The research was published in the journal Biomacromolecules, in a paper by researchers Brian Lawrence, Mark Cronin-Golomb, Irene Georgakoudi, David Kaplan and Fiorenzo Omenetto.

Last month, Tufts won a $290,000 federal research grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, one of the organizations under the umbrella of the National Institutes of Health, to study the survival and growth of bacteria, according to the office of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

In June, Tufts researchers landed a $3.3 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop soft, chemical robots based on caterpillars.