Trapping Toxins Using Gold Nanoparticles

Billly Gates writes "British scientists have found a way to quickly and accurately find toxins by binding gold nanoparticles with sugar which then could be dissolved in a solution that changes color when any toxin is found. This procedure could be used in the medical field to find poisons and diseases as well as finding substances in bioterrorist attacks."

Comments

Re:Any toxin?

[tpgp]

This thing can't detect every toxin, right?

I know its a little much to expect an ac to read the article, but right in there:

Once made, the [gold] particles are coated with sugars tailored to detect different biological substances.

So - you're going to need a special 'receptor' sugar for each toxin type.