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

Now it makes more sense...

[Anonymous Coward]

"First you get the sugar & gold nanoparticles, then you get the power, then you get the women".

Bioterrorism?

[tpgp]

*sighs*

Mention bioterrorism and you're guaranteed publicity and funding.

Meanwhile, the real bioterrorists are never going to be bought to justice.

Re:Bioterrorism?

[Sqwubbsy]

Are you suggesting Union Carbide willfully gassed the people of Bhopal? Because the article you link to suggests a malicious intent by the CEO.
That's a bit of a stretch from the Islamofascists who are willfully trying to kill non-believers.

I'm not saying UC isn't culpable, or that the settlement shouldn't have been more substantial, but you're comparing apples and oranges.

Also, how does a US$470,000,000 settlement only come to $300-500 per person unless it's spread out to 1,175,000 people and not the 50,000 mentioned in the article? Perhaps the state used/took some of the money for (I'm hoping) services and to recover their costs for assistance. Look, Bhopal was crappy and I think it has helped India step up to not be treated like a 3rd world nation, but weak analogies like your will not help bring justice.

Re:Bioterrorism?

[tpgp]

Are you suggesting Union Carbide willfully gassed the people of Bhopal? Because the article you link to suggests a malicious intent by the CEO.
That's a bit of a stretch from the Islamofascists who are willfully trying to kill non-believers.

OK - you're right. Calling them bio-terrorism isn't a correct. But as the powers-that-be are labelling everything they don't like as bio-terrorism, I thought I would do the same. (oh, and not all terrorists are islamic)

I'm not saying UC isn't culpable, or that the settlement shouldn't have been more substantial, but you're comparing apples and oranges.

OK - I am comparing apples & oranges - however, I wanted to highlight the fact that the major chemical and biological threat to people is from negligent or greedy corporations, not some nebulous terrorist threat

Also, how does a US$470,000,000 settlement only come to $300-500 per person unless it's spread out to 1,175,000 people and not the 50,000 mentioned in the article? Perhaps the state used/took some of the money for (I'm hoping) services and to recover their costs for assistance. Look, Bhopal was crappy and I think it has helped India step up to not be treated like a 3rd world nation, but weak analogies like your will not help bring justice.

The 50,000 you mention are those who can't work due to injuries. The settlement also had to pay for the cleanup (still imcomplete), the funerals (and family's) of the 20,000 who died, the 120,000 who suffer ailments (I could go on....)

Re:Why nano?

[mkettler]

possibly too heavy to stay in suspension when coated with sugars?

Just a guess, but gold is pretty dense stuff.

FUD

[Inverted Intellect]

Why can't this invention be deemed notable for its own worth? News outlets continually drag some kind of terrorism into everything these days...

Suddenly, a new way to detect toxins isn't notable because it helps those with medical conditions, but rather because it hinders terrorists from achieving their goals... not that it isn't a good side effect or anything.

What's next? "New construction techniques defend against terrorist bombings"?

Re:FUD

[Jaqui]

"What's next? "New construction techniques defend against terrorist bombings"?"

uh, since The Oklahoma City bombing that has been started. ~sigh~

the series "Frontlines of Construction" [ on Discovery Channel usually ] has covered how the construction industry is now engineering to protect against terrorist attacks. Simple things like stopping vehicles from parking close to the front of the building to more complex items like improving structural design to handle massive bomb damage and avoid catastrophic failure as happened on Oklahoma City event and with the WTC.

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.

Re:Any toxin?

[Inverted Intellect]

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

That doesn't neccessarily have to pose a challenge to having a substance cabable of detecting a wide variety of toxins. It may be possible to mix several of these particles in a cocktail. But then, if these particles are supposed to be readable by eyesight (in sufficient quantity, that is), then additional equipment may be needed in order to read the results of measurements using the substance.

But then, I know very little about all this, there's way too little info in TFA to tell about these things at the moment.

I'm not sure if what I'm saying is painfully obvious already. If I get a (Score:-1, Redundant), then I'll just have to live with it.

Re:I thought this sounded familiar...

[afaik_ianal]

Oh - where'd the link go?

Well, I meant to put this link in: http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/1 3/2340222 :-/

Re:Any toxin?

[Omaze]

The article is purposely vague because it's a fluff piece. Maybe the PR department for the University of East Anglia had some credits to burn with the BBC. The technology amounts to little more than,"We found a new way to grind gold to a finer particle size and now we can use it to... uh... do some stuff which... can... uh... be used for... um... detecting TERRORISTS!" Throw in the sappy bit about water testing with the gratuitous shot of the poverty stricken child crouching in a dirty alleyway and everything's all set.

Take for example this phrase,"the target substance, be it a poison such as ricin or a bug like E.coli, binds to the sugar." That must be some sort of that funny magical sugar that comes from the end of the rainbow if it can bind both ricin (a protein of about 520 amino acid residues) and E.coli (an entire bacteria) with any selectivity over, say, phlegm or an innocent algae.

The article is a cheap promotion for Professor David Russel and a PR feelgood article for those who don't know much about biochemistry.

"when any toxin is found"?

[sirwired]

It changes color for "any toxin"? What exactly is a "toxin". As any toxicologist will tell you, poison is all about the dosage.

At 1000mg / dose, Tylenol is an effective, safe non-addictive pain releiver.

At 7000mg / dose, it causes irreversible liver damage in most adults without the antidote.

Poisoning by Iron supplements used to be a very common cause of poison deaths among children until there were mandated safety caps for iron supplements.

So again, what is a "toxin"?

SirWired

so...

[Churla]

A spoon full of sugar (/w gold nanoparticles) helps the ricin go down? the ricin go down.. the ricin go down??

(Shameless theft of riff from and apologies to Mary Poppins)