Well it wouldn't be Friday if we didn't have news of some white-coated boffin finding new and (kind of) interesting things to do with blank media. Last week we brought you news of some experimental things you could do with your
old Britany discs and a tub of yoghurt, now we learn that genetic drool dropped to and dried on a common CD, paired with an inkjet printer may unlock the mysteries of the human genome.
James LA Clair, a molecular biologist, once absentmindedly dribbled a bit of a biochemical sample onto a music CD that was lying on his lab bench. When he popped the punk-rock recording into a player later, he found that the chemical, which by that time had dried, had silenced it. That small accident four years ago proved more inspirational than irritating.
"I was sitting beside the latest, most advanced machine for detecting molecules, that cost something like 300,000 dollars, and my CD player detected it as well - and it only cost about, 20 bucks secondhand," said Dr. La Clair, now a visiting researcher at the University of California at San Diego.
Along with Michael D. Burkart, an assistant professor of biochemistry at the university, Dr. La Clair has proposed a system for molecular screening that uses a conventional computer CD-R drive and an inkjet printer. The two men hope their system will enable individuals to do the kind of genetic testing that is now limited to well-equipped laboratories. "You can see kids squishing an ant and sequencing its genome at home with this," Dr. Burkart said.
Before any of you try this at home be warned the serious consequences of such endeavors; Dr. Burkart, who had worked with Dr. La Clair at another laboratory, was also interested in finding less expensive ways to discover molecules. Eventually Dr. La Clair temporarily left Berlin, where he runs a scientific consulting company, for the research sojourn in San Diego to refine his idea.
The system, which is described in the Sept. 21 issue of the journal Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, is not exactly ready for home use. If nothing else, the two scientists say it would certainly void any printer warranty, because the chemicals involved occasionally destroy some printers.
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