Trapping Toxins Using Gold Nanoparticles 68
Billly Gates writes "British scientists have found a way to quickly and accurately find toxins by binding gold nanoparticles with sugar which then could be dissolved in a solution that changes color when any toxin is found. This procedure could be used in the medical field to find poisons and diseases as well as finding substances in bioterrorist attacks."
Bioterrorism? (Score:5, Insightful)
Mention bioterrorism and you're guaranteed publicity and funding.
Meanwhile, the real [ethicalinvesting.com] bioterrorists [bhopal.org] are never going to be bought to justice.
FUD (Score:5, Insightful)
Suddenly, a new way to detect toxins isn't notable because it helps those with medical conditions, but rather because it hinders terrorists from achieving their goals... not that it isn't a good side effect or anything.
What's next? "New construction techniques defend against terrorist bombings"?
Re:Bioterrorism? (Score:2, Insightful)
You do realise how plants work don't you? It's quite possible for cross pollination to occur without the express written permission of the farmer.
Re:Any toxin? (Score:2, Insightful)
But then, I know very little about all this, there's way too little info in TFA to tell about these things at the moment.
I'm not sure if what I'm saying is painfully obvious already. If I get a (Score:-1, Redundant), then I'll just have to live with it.
Re:Any toxin? (Score:3, Insightful)
Take for example this phrase,"the target substance, be it a poison such as ricin or a bug like E.coli, binds to the sugar." That must be some sort of that funny magical sugar that comes from the end of the rainbow if it can bind both ricin (a protein of about 520 amino acid residues) and E.coli (an entire bacteria) with any selectivity over, say, phlegm or an innocent algae.
The article is a cheap promotion for Professor David Russel and a PR feelgood article for those who don't know much about biochemistry.