Animal magic: Proteins found in mouse urine could help create biosensors for environmental monitoring

摘要

A EUROPEAN research group has discovered that proteins found in mouse urine could help create powerful biosensors for environmental monitoring and security applications. According to researchers from Manchester University, the University of Pavia in Italy, and Sweden-based KTH and Linkoping University, mouse major urinary proteins (MUPs) coated on a standard piezoelectric crystal enabled a one thousand-fold increase in sensor sensitivity compared with existing electronic sensing methods. The new biosensor could allow in situ monitoring of river water, which is currently tested manually in a laboratory.