Encapsulated DNA barcodes as green trackers

化学追踪器通常用于农业、环境和能源部门，用于监测和识别诸如化学品、污染物、液体或气体流动以及病原体等物质。目前使用的绝大多数示踪剂是卤化或无机化合物，能够通过质谱进行检测。这些现有技术往往缺乏其预期应用的敏感性，而且由于其固有的毒性和对当地环境的损害，往往是令人关切的主要原因。此外，独特的化学示踪剂的数量往往有限。我们建议使用封装在纳米颗粒中的DNA作为一种通用的绿色替代品。这些封装的DNA不含危险化学品，在广泛的环境中稳定。它们可以被定制设计成具有与条形码类似的独特序列标识符。这种条形码能力最终将导致一个非常大的跟踪器库，并且比当前标准具有显著优势。此外，从这些纳米颗粒中回收的DNA通过聚合酶链反应扩增来检测，从而允许异常高的灵敏度。封装DNA条形码的成功开发将使工业合作伙伴Cytodiagnostics为其加拿大和世界其他地区的现有和新客户提供新的产品平台。

Chemical trackers are commonly used in the agricultural, environmental, and energy sector for monitoring and identification of substances such as chemicals, pollutants, liquid or gas flows, and pathogens. The vast majority of trackers currently in use are halogenated or inorganic compounds that enable detection by mass spectroscopy. These existing technologies often lack the sensitivities for their intended application and is often a major cause of concern due to their inherent toxicity and damage to the local environment. In addition, the number of unique chemical trackers are often limited. We propose the use of DNA encapsulated in nanoparticles as a versatile green alternative. These encapsulated DNAs do not contain hazardous chemicals and are stable in a wide range of environments. They can be custom designed to have unique sequence identifiers similarly to a barcode. This barcoded ability will ultimately lead to an extremely large library of trackers and is a significant advantage over the current standard. Furthermore, DNAs recovered from these nanoparticles are detected through amplification by polymerase chain reaction, thus allowing for exceptionally high sensitivity. Successful development of encapsulate DNA barcodes will allow the industrial partner Cytodiagnostics to provide a new product platform for its existing and new customers, both in Canada and the rest of the world.