Researcher Wayne Frasch from the Arizona State University is working on a method that could eliminate the long lines formed by airports security or revolutionize health screenings. He recently discovered that the F1- ATPase enzyme can be equipped with an optical probe called ‘gold nanorod’ which would enable us to ‘train’ it to emit a signal whenever it finds a molecule of suspect DNA.
The enzyme F1- ATPase (F1-adenosine triphosphatase) has a diameter of only 10 to 12 nanometers and is part of a set of proteins critical in creating energy in all living things. Scientists that previously studied it have been awarded two Nobel Prizes back in 1979 and 1997.
For now, researchers are working on a prototype of the molecule detector but they refused to give a prognosis about the time when the new nanodevice will be ready to use. Think about all the time we waste in hospitals for screenings or for security checks, in airports. This could spare us of all those annoying moments and use that time in much more pleasant ways.
