NanoSniffer.com

NanoSniffer.com

Researchers from the UK have developed a biosensor that can detect low levels of explosives in the atmosphere. Dubbed the ‘nanodog’, the device could be used to screen airport passengers and luggage to avoid security threats.

The biosensor prototype, which measures 2.5 centimetres across, uses enzymes that have been genetically modified in order to enable them to adhere to the surface of an electrode sensor, where they remain active. The enzyme, by virtue of its biological ability to breakdown or synthesise chemical compounds, reacts with the compounds found in an explosive, and the reaction then generates an electrical signal. The arrangement of the enzyme is such that it can detect explosive vapours at a level in the part per trillion range.

Potential applications of the new technology include screening airport passengers and luggage alongside sniffer dogs. The compact nature of the device also offers opportunities for passive sensing in areas with security requirements and could, for example, sense traces of, or hidden explosives, as passengers walk though security gates without needing to intrude on their personal space as current technologies do.

Professor Mahar Kalajj from the University of Bangor in Wales led the team responsible for patenting the new sensor technology. ‘The enzymes act very much like a dog’s nose and sniff out any explosive vapours in the atmosphere,’ he told CORDIS News.

Although unable for now to specify the exact explosive detected, the nanodog is capable of distinguishing the compound materials which make up these explosives, and providing readouts of the levels of the materials detected.

It is clear that there is a market for such technology. The nanodog has already been tested to detect samples of explosives of interest to global security agencies, and has attracted interest from governmental and private sector organisations both in Europe and the US.

The next step of the process, says Professor Kalajj, is to develop a greater number of enzymes, and those which are capable of specifying not just the chemical materials but the explosives detected. The team will also work on the design of the device to make it smaller and easily portable. For this, the Bangor team will join an EU funded Integrated Project, due to start in October. Nanosecure will bring together a total of 26 partners from across Europe with the aim of harnessing breakthrough nanotechnologies in sensing and detoxification. The hope is to reduce risk to public health from airborne contamination and improve the well-being of citizens.

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