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17 Jun 2002
Integrated circuits are literally taking on a new life at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where researchers have developed a half living, halfsilicon chip to detect pollutants, explosives and a number of chemicals in soil and water. The bioluminescent bioreporter integrated circuit, dubbed "Critters on a Chip," consists ofliving sensors -- such as bioluminescent bacteria -- placed on astandard integrated circuit, or chip.
In the presence of targeted substances, including pollutants and explosives, thebacteria emit a visible blue-green light. The chips are expected to cost less than $1 apiece to mass produce. Other potential uses for the chip, which can be designed to transmit a signal to a receiver that's connected to a computer, include in medical diagnostics and industrial process monitors.
"Because the integrated circuits are small, low-power, rugged and can be made wireless, they can be placed in areas other devices cannot," said ORNL's Mike Simpson, developer of the hybrid chip. "The bioreporters can be engineered to be very specific and sensitiveto a particular substance."
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