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Three dozen people, six departments, three colleges: An adventure
in interdisciplinary research
Imagine small sensors attached to
meat packages that change color to visually indicate–in a matter
of seconds–if the meat has been infected with deadly E. coli. Or
similar lapel pin-sized sensors worn by airline passengers to warn if
they have been exposed to toxic airborne diseases during a flight. Or
a miniature version of this sensor implanted in the bloodstream of diabetics
to indicate by a simple color change when molin is needed.
Thanks to
certain cells in the demure Siamese Fighting Fish, and to efforts by an
extraordinary OSU research team composed of more than three dozen researchers
from six departments spanning three colleges, such biosensors are in development
at OSU, and researchers hope they will soon be employed in a wide range
of applications that will make thea safer place.
This Cytosensor
Project is one of several biosensor-related projects under the umbrella
of OSU’s larger research initiative, MECS (Microtechnology-based
Energy, Chemical, and Biological Systems), and is an outstanding example
of how faculty members in the College of Engineering are working closely
with other OSU faculty to harness the combined research power that results
when people reach out across traditional academic department boundaries
to team up arch projects.
The seed
for this particular project was planted years ago, when one of the nine
principal investigators was a small boy, intrigued by how animals such
as chameleons and certain fish could change colors, as if by magic. Phil
McFadden, today a leading cell biologist in OSU’s Department of Biochemistry
and Biophysics, ultimately brought his childhood fascination into an OSU
laboratory, where he discovered that certain cells from the Siamese Fighting
Fish would change color when exposed to toxins in the environment. McFadden
realized that these cells had the potential “To be the heart of a
technology,” providing rapid, visual warnings about the presence
of toxins that might be ot undetectable.
But McFadden
needed help engineering his cell-level discovery into a portable device
that could not only contain and sustain living cells, but also provide
an efficient way to expose them to toxins, as well as a method of gathering
and measuring data from the celhey responded.
McFadden
turned to Brian Paul in the College of Engineering’s Department of
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. Paul, who had just been awarded
the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, agreed to engineer
a clear polymer chamber useuse the cells.
“Brian
Paul is responsible for teaching me about engineering, about turning something
that is purely a discovery into something that has utility,” McFadden
says. “He explained to me the step-by-step procedures that are commonly
used in engineering to take a concept and bring ial life.”
Once connected
with the College of Engineering, McFadden soon found additional help from
faculty members in four other engineering departments who are now key
players in the project. Frank Chaplen from Bioengineering brings a bioengineer’s
perspective to the overall project. Jim Liburdy and Deborah Pence from
Mechanical Engineering are helping fine tune fluid flow through the cell
chamber drawing on their microfluidics expertise. Wojtek Kolodziej from
Electrical and Computer Engineering is creating the optical change recognition
software needed. Tom Plant, also from ECE, brings his expertise in laser
optics to the project. Goran Jovanovic from Chemical Engineering is developing
synthetic substances capable of housing and nourishing the cells inside
the chamber in ordeost longevity.
Janine Trempy,
from the Colleges of Science and Agricultural Sciences, a “bacteria
expert,” helped obtain recent approval from the Centers for Disease
Control to build a Level II Biosafety ory on campus.
One might
think that with such a large research team, things could get messy or
political. Not the case, says McFadden. “I think we are having to
break down some barriers, since we are pioneering multidisciplinary interactions
on this campus,” he says. “But one of the reasons our group
is so successful—it does click, almost seamlessly—is that we
have everyone’s basic research interests working on an applied research
project that is of nterest.”
Funded by
major grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Defense Advanced
Research Projects (DARPA), and others, research is progressing more quickly
than expected. Having such a large cross-disciplinary team also speeds
the process. But Chaplen is quick to credit McFadden for discovering the
original technology, and then reaching out to the College of Engineering
or assistance.
“Phil
developed the original technology to the point where he realized he needed
to branch out and bring in a more multidisciplinary focus in order to
develop this technology further,” Chaplen says. “He then got
together with a group of us engineers in order to help him build the device
that he needed to deliver this technology for varioucations.”
The team
has several patents pending, and work is also under way to use the technology
to screen substances for use as new beneficial pharmaceutical drugs. McFadden
and Chaplen agree that the potential applications of the technology could
be vast. They tick off a list, including employing the technology to tell
an artificial pancreas whecrete insulin.
“Of
course these are just futuristic thoughts and ideas,” McFadden says.
“But that’s where we always dreams.”
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