New
Scientist: Argento Diagnostics, a company spun off from the
UK's National Physical Laboratory, has used nanotechnology and
microfluidics to tackle a problem in the training of elite
athletes: How do you monitor the levels of key metabolic
molecules without having to send samples to a lab? Argento's
solution is a handheld device that can take a sample of an
athlete's blood, saliva, or urine and send it through
microfluidic channels, where it mixes with silver nanoparticles
and larger magnetic nanoparticles, both of which are coated
with antibodies. In the presence of a biomolecule of interest,
the silver nanoparticles stick to the magnetic nanoparticles.
Flushing off the silver nanoparticles creates a concentration
of silver ions whose charge is proportional to the amount of
biomolecule in the sample.
