Skip to main content

Strait Science - Biosensor Task 1.1 of the Coastal and Environmental Effects Program (PNNL scope #46754)


EMSL Project ID
14400

Abstract

This task is to further the basic science that could support the development of novel marine biosensors and enhanced biosentinels to complement existing devices used for biological weapons (BW) detection in marine systems. One such biosensor may use fungi which are unique in their ability to function in areas and in ways not addressed by current sensor technologies. The focus would be on understanding the biochemistry and genetics of marine fungi that meet certain criteria as candidates to be biosentinels and/or biosensors on structures and vessels, and in nearshore waters, sea floor, and beaches. Future work would expand the BW detection capability to include biosensor devices consisting of other living microscopic native organisms, such as algae and bacteria from the nearshore marine community, and others that would employ isolated, living tissue, such as olfactory epithelium of salmon, which would be trainable to detect specific arrays of compounds. In addition, future work may include development of (1) other biosentinels that employ macroscopic natives such as eelgrass and crustaceans, for example, enhanced and refined by the use of modern molecular techniques involving biomarkers and genomics, and (2) biomimetics, which are synthetic materials designed to mimic the function of biological tissue, ostensibly without some of the design and capability constraints associated with living systems.

Project Details

Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2005-04-13
End Date
2007-06-01
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Margaret Pinza
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory