Cyborg Cells Sense Humidity

Gadgetizer writes "Mark Peplow over at Nature.com published this story on 'Cellborg Technology' yesterday: "Living bacteria have been incorporated into an electronic circuit to produce a sensitive humidity gauge. The device unites microbe and machine, taking advantage of the properties of both to make for a supersensitive sensor. "As far as we know, this is the first report of using microorganisms to make an electronic device," says Ravi Saraf, a chemist from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, who developed the 'cellborg' with his student Vikas Berry."

Comments

Doesn't seem to rely on living cells

[G4from128k]

TFA suggests that the device continues to work even after the cells die. This suggests a simple physical response -- these ugly bags of mostly water tend to swell in the presence of humidity. If the device had ceased to function when the bacteria died, then we'd have something.

In any event, it does suggest an approach to more sensitive humidity detectors using gold-coated hydrophilic particles. Replacing the bacteria with some other polymer capsules could lead to a more repeatable sensor with ultra-high sensitivity.