Researchers Use Salmon DNA To Make LED Lightbulbs

Al writes "Researchers from the University of Connecticut have created a new light-emitting material by doping spun strands of salmon DNA with fluorescent dyes. The material, which is robust because DNA is such a strong polymer, absorbs energy from ultraviolet light and gives off different colors depending on the amounts of dye it contains. A team led by chemistry professor Gregory Sotzing created the new material by mixing salmon DNA with two types of dye, then pumping the solution from a fine needle while a voltage is applied between the needle tip and a grounded copper plate covered with a glass slide. As the liquid jet comes out, it dries and forms long nanofibers that are deposited on the glass slide as a mat. The researchers then spin this nanofiber mat directly on the surface of an ultraviolet LED to make a white-light emitter. The color-tunable DNA material relies on an energy-transfer mechanism between two different fluorescent dyes, and the DNA keeps the dye molecules separated at a distance of 2 to 10 nanometers from each other."

Comments

I'll get my coat

[iamapizza]

What bass voltage did he have to apply to get it to work?

Re:I'll get my coat

[treeves]

Based on Ohm's law, you'd take the (downstream) current and multiply by the resistance to get the voltage. Since you're dealing with a liquid, you could also divide by the conductivity, known as *roe*.

Re:Compare to standard flourescent bulb?

[alta]

Sorry, fish are full of mercury!

Re:Compare to standard flourescent bulb?

[thedonger]

Since we already have white LED's, I'd guess the real benefit is the ability to give PETA something else about which they can complain..

There. Fixed that for you.

why salmon and it will cost to much

[cinnamon colbert]

several posters have asked why salmon dna - ifyou look in a std catalog (say www.sial.com) you will see that fish dna is much cheaper then bacterial (e coli)
this is cause each sperm cell has ~~1,000 times more dna then a bacterial cell, and sperm are easy to collect (hold the jokes) and easy to get dna out of - basically, you just put the sperm in a solution of detergent, and the dna pops out.

but dna is pretty $$ (retail price of 48 dollars a gram in 10 gram lots at sial.com), it degrades in the environment, and typically, the organic dyes that bind to dna have greatly reduced stability compared to inorganic phosphors

sounds like more ivory tower nonsense that will never lead to reasonably priced, cheap product