Biochip detects metals instantly

University of Illinois researchers have developed a cheap biochip merging living human DNA with a silicon chip that is able to instantly detect certain dangerous metals. Lead, mercury and cadmium detection have traditionally required time-consuming batch testing or expensive machinery, but the new chip performs the same analysis cheaply and without delay.

Professor Yi Lu says, "We have created a new class of simple and environmentally safe sensors _ the world's first example of a catalytic DNA-based biosensor with highly sensitive fluorescence detection for metals."

Read the source article at eet.com.