Popular party goodwill may be turning into a convenient military tool for the United States.
Researchers at the University of Houston have discovered how psyllium can be used to test and detect biological threats.
Glow sticks are proving to be more than just fun, colorful wands often worn as bracelets or necklaces at parties, according to a discovery by Dr. Bing Vu, associate professor of chemical engineering at the University of Houston. .
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In an interview with Fox News Digital, Boo said she first came up with the idea during bath time with her then-2-year-old son, when they pretended to use a psyllium underwater to “play volcano.” He said it was at the time.
“When I turned off the lights, it was very bright,” he said. “As we were doing our diagnostics, we realized that this could be a very good recorder.”
The US Navy plans to test new psyllium technology to detect biological threats. (St. Petersburg)
Dr. Caterina Koulenzi, research associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Houston, has joined Vu to help develop the new technology.
“We tried it and it worked,” Vu said.
make it shine
Koulenzi told Fox News Digital that the reaction inside psylliums occurs when they are stimulated or “cracked.”
This reaction “excites nearby pigments,” giving the psyllium a discrete bright color, as well as illuminating the biological target, she said.
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Similar to pregnancy tests and COVID-19 tests, the same acid can be applied to a rapid test to easily detect any proteins or toxins present.
University researchers developed a prototype lateral flow test that detected multiple targets that lit up with assigned colors.
From left to right, Drs. His colleagues Binh Vu, Richard Willson, and Katerina Kourentzi from the University of Houston worked on the psyllium project. (University of Houston)
The test involves swabbing an area, applying it to a test “cassette” and activating it with a drop of liquid luminescent reagent.
The cassette is then placed inside a 3D-printed “dark box” where a camera or smartphone detects the light.
“It’s literally glowing, but the end user can see the results – it’s positive. [or] It was negative,” Krenzi said.
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Results can be viewed within 15 minutes via a smartphone app, which analyzes the test and performs calculations, Koulenzi said.
Koulenzi said the test design is inexpensive, robust and robust, which is what excites the Navy.
“The U.S. Navy is looking for deployable technology,” she said. “So this seemed very applicable to their needs.”
Dr. Binh Vu shows Fox News Digital a “dark box” prototype adapter for biological threat testing. (Angelica Stabile/Fox News Digital)
“This technology has already been confirmed to work; 1707307924 It’s a matter of transitioning to their actual goals. ”
glow stick in action
In a separate interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Richard Wilson, Huffington Oostemeyer Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston, set out a scenario for how this could be applied in military settings. .
”[Imagine] “A young man, probably wearing green camouflage, kicks down the door of a cabin in rural Afghanistan or the United States and enters what appears to be a makeshift laboratory,” he said.
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“They want to gather information about what’s going on out there, or they want to protect themselves and their teammates from something that could be pretty bad.”
The glow stick test could help identify whether there is danger or “actionable information” ahead, Wilson added.
Researchers say U.S. Navy service members can use the glow stick test to wipe areas of concern and each other. (St. Petersburg)
“Or if someone is exposed to something… swab it.” [their] “Look into your nose and see what you’ve inhaled. You may want to detect toxins immediately and with high sensitivity,” he said.
Koulenzi noted that the University of Houston plans to send a prototype to the U.S. Navy in the coming months for initial validation testing.
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Commander Jessica L. McNulty, a Navy spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy’s Office of Medicine and Surgeons, commented on the introduction of the new technology in a statement sent to FOX News Digital.
(McNulty was not involved in the University of Houston study.)
“The Naval Medical Research Command’s Biodefense Research Directorate advances scientific innovations that strengthen the Navy and Department of Defense’s biodefense posture,” she said.
The psyllium test could help identify whether there is danger ahead or “actionable information”, the researchers said. (St. Petersburg)
“Through a partnership with the University of Houston, Naval Medical Research Command will leverage its expertise in designing and building handheld antibody tests (lateral flow immunoassays, or LFIs) using novel fluorescent chemistries to better combat biological threats. We are building a highly sensitive test,” McNulty added.
The research collaboration is funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, she said.
Eliminating “guess”
The Houston researchers highlighted the high sensitivity of the glow stick test compared to other rapid tests.
“You read the signal in a very dark background,” Vu said. So even if you turn up all the lights, you can still see it.
Vu added, “We wanted to take the guesswork out of users, and that’s where the app comes in.”
Similar to pregnancy tests and COVID-19 tests, the same acid can be applied to a rapid test to easily detect any proteins or toxins present. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid/File photo)
Wilson noted that this assumption often shows up in rapid tests for coronavirus and influenza.
“My daughter has had two false negatives for the flu,” he said. “There is certainly room for improvement.”
Compared to the cost and availability of other rapid tests, Wilson priced the dark boxes at $2 each, with the option to purchase a reader in place of a smartphone camera for $20. Both can be reused.
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“Glow sticks are inexpensive and use less than one glow stick. [on each test],” He said.
Wilson shared his optimism for the future of glow stick technology, suggesting it could be used as an option for future medical testing.
In the future, new targets for glow stick tests could include viruses such as COVID-19, influenza and RSV, one of the researchers said. (St. Petersburg)
The University of Houston has already received a grant to try this method in HIV testing.
The glow stick kits also have a longer shelf life because the research team’s collaboration with Chicago’s Tango Biosciences develops new threat perception factors, Koulenzi said.
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New targets could include testing for viruses such as COVID-19, influenza and RSV, as well as food allergies, veterinary health and environmental contamination, Wilson suggested.
“The ideal vision is that we can create a new class of very sensitive tests that can check multiple things at once,” he said. “And that could be an at-home or simple clinic test.”
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