Glucose test strips are essential for diabetics and anyone who needs to monitor their blood sugar levels. Small paper-based strips are inexpensive to produce and are invaluable for improving health. they save lives.
However, while strips are useful, their uses are narrow. What if this cost-effective and convenient technology could also be applied to measure other particles (pollutants, pathogens, chemicals, etc.)?
That’s exactly what Rebecca Rye, a chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her team are developing. It is a versatile sensor for detecting a wide range of microscopic substances, from incredibly small metal ions to large particles such as: spore.
“We use the same design principles behind glucose test strips to look for biological agents such as Clostridium botulinum, drinking water contaminants such as mercury, and many other targets,” Lai said. said. “For example, consider the impact of nitrates, which are a big pollutant, especially in agricultural areas. To mitigate nitrates in water, you first need to detect them.”
But just creating a sensor to detect particles is not enough. It must be practical, affordable and easy to use in the field.
“With paper-based substrates, the cost of one sensor can be as low as $1,” Lai says. “Cheap and portable. These are the reasons why glucose sensors are the most successful biosensors since the 1950s and 1960s.”
As a child, Lai was familiar with glucose test strips because her mother was diabetic. However, biochemistry was not an area she initially considered. Her original career path was fashion design.
“I know, it’s a big change,” Lai said with a laugh. “I switched to biochemistry after I met my research advisor at California State University. I was taking general chemistry. Things were going well, so I wanted to see what was next. When I was doing research, I realized that I could do something that had never been done before. As an experimenter, you could discover a reaction and be the first to observe it working. That was always very exciting to me.”
She may have abandoned fashion as a career, but Lai still flexes her creative muscles in the lab. For example, she developed a science support program for elementary and middle school students that connected science concepts to some of the Harry Potter books. A professor at NU, she also enjoys blending these worlds for the benefit of the undergraduate and graduate students she works with and teaches.
Amy Kettner, associate director of the Chemical and Biological Defense Program at the University of Nebraska’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, collaborates with Lai on a variety of projects.
“Mr. Lai’s passion for the work he does at the university is contagious,” Kettner said. “I believe that her dedication to applying her expertise to the development of next-generation detection technologies and her very strong work ethic are important drivers for success in this mission area. is watching.”
The work environment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln naturally fosters a collaborative spirit, Lai said.
“Since I first came here in 2008, I have mostly collaborated with researchers in physics and engineering,” she said. “Of course you have to be very good in your field, but you learn a lot through collaboration. I think STEM fields are becoming more and more collaborative over time.”
Supporting this type of collaboration is one of the primary purposes of NSRI, designated by the Department of Defense and operated as a University-Affiliated Research Center of the University of Nebraska System with support from U.S. Strategic Command. Through NSRI, University of Nebraska experts can contribute capabilities and capabilities to solve national security challenges across a variety of threats.
Throughout the next decade, Lai’s capabilities across fundamental and applied aspects of biosensors, particularly in the design and fabrication of foldable and kinetics-based electrochemical biosensors, will be critical to NSRI’s mission. Sho.
“There will always be new things that people create to harm others and the environment,” Lai said. “We need technology that is flexible and cost-effective enough to address new targets so we can develop new sensors and develop mitigation plans quickly.”
Lai’s passion for chemistry, enhanced by her resourcefulness and creativity, clearly benefits not only general health, but also America’s defense.
