Queen's chemist designs new 'catch-and-tell' molecules

Professor A.P. De Silva from Queen's University Belfast. Click here for more information.

A Queen's University Belfast scientist, whose research is now used worldwide in blood analysing equipment, has made another important discovery.

Recently announced as the winner of the Royal Society of Chemistry's (RSC) Sensors Award for 2008, Professor A. Prasanna de Silva, has created 'intelligent' molecules.

The discovery is based on previous pioneering research by Professor De Silva and his colleagues at Queen's, which created 'catch and tell' sensor molecules that send out light signals when they catch chemicals in blood.

That technology helped create blood diagnostic cassettes which have achieved sales of over $50 million worldwide. Used in hospitals, ambulances, veterinary offices the cassettes are used to quickly monitor blood for levels of common salt components such as sodium, potassium and calcium.

Now, an extension of the same design has developed molecules which can act as simple 'logic gates': more complex versions of which are what drive current computers.

Some of the new molecules made at Queen's can add small numbers, while others developed by US colleagues can play games likes tic-tac-toe and win against human opponents. New research at Queen's also shows they can also be used as 'ID tags' for very small objects the size of biological cells.