Cocaine Biosensor

Aaron Rowe writes "The MIT Technology review reports that a lab at UC Santa Barbara has created a biosensor by attaching a special type of DNA called an aptamer to a gold electrode. When cocaine is present, the aptamer tightly hugs a cocaine molecule and leans over so that a metal tag can touch the gold surface. This causes a spike in a plot of current versus voltage when the electrode is attached to a machine called a cyclic voltmeter."

Comments

Re:Much more than cocaine

[ArsonSmith]

I remeber a role playing game called Rifts that had a class known as the Jucier that had this very technology. They were typlically amped to the maximium body potential, but this cut their average life expectancy to around 5-10 years after getting "jucied"

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Re:Gold?

[Mr. Underbridge]

It's just an element. The scientists in question aren't particularly concerned with its attractiveness, seemingly mystical attraction, or monetary worth. Like any other chemical, it has a range of uses. Here, it's fairly inert from an oxidative standpoint, yet is relatively easy to attach thiol groups to. In addition, it's conductive. Nothing to see here...

Re:Gold?

[rjmars97]

I feel the same way about employer's rights... I'm sick hearing about "affirmative action" and such to "balance" a workplace. Race/gender/etc should not be a factor in getting a job, only job related functions should have any kind of impact.

However, I have had the misfortune of being a co-worker of more than one drug user, and that experience has influenced me so that I will not work at a company that does not have a zero-tolerance drug policy. While you may choose what companies to support, I find a strictly drug-free workplace a necessity. If that said drug use does not impact the workplace in any way I could understand a company neglecting the issue, but in my experience a person's use of such drugs has a very negative impact on working conditions. If a person shows up to work stoned/drunk or otherwise impared, they should be reprimanded, and should it happen again, they should be fired. Having to deal with people in such a state is counterproductive, and in my case, very dangerious to everyone on the job site. Perhaps where you work the situation might not be directly dangerious to others, but when working with dangerious equipment such as is frequently done at my workplace, it becomes a severe danger to everyone.

Re:Competetive technology

[gstoddart]

There are a lot of "Cocaine biosensors" you could hire off the street for a few dollars ah hour. They will react quite strongly when they find the compound in question (i.e. the "good stuff").

Yeah, but it's like using pigs to hunt truffles -- you have to ensure the pig doesn't get a chance to eat the truffles, or it's just a waste of time. =)