Sandia to focus on early-warning detection methods
The Sandia research will focus on enhancing the early-warning capability of detection and is expected to lay the groundwork for the development of a reliable, cost-effective prototype to simultaneously analyze multiple HAB toxins in phytoplankton and/or shellfish in the field. Lane and his colleagues will aim to optimize the micro-separations process for a sub-set of relevant toxins, and establish the laboratory-based protocols for sample preparation.
The long-term goal, should the initial phase of the Sandia research go as planned, is to develop small, lightweight devices that could be fielded by oceanographers and marine biologists as part of their regular monitoring systems.
In addition to Sandia's Lane and VanderNoot, collaborators include Donald M. Anderson, a senior scientist and director of the Coastal Ocean Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; and Gregg Langlois, marine biologist at the California Department of Health Services.
The technologies developed under this effort will be equally well suited to detecting algal toxins in freshwater sources and complements other ongoing research at Sandia. Sandia's Water Initiative (www.sandia.gov/water), for example, strives to increase the safety, security and sustainability of water infrastructure through the development of advanced technologies that create new water supplies, decrease demand through water-use efficiency, and provide decision-informing tools to the institu
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Source:DOE/Sandia National Laboratories