Understanding and Manipulating Interactions of Molecules and Paper Surfaces Focusing on the Development of Low-Cost Tools for Preserving and Monitoring Water Quality

想象一下，有一张纸条，当蘸在水里时，它会指示它是否可以安全饮用。纸传感器在发达国家（如加拿大）很重要，但在发展中国家至关重要。这笔赠款将帮助我们回答一些科学问题，使我们更接近有纸条部署在外地。为此，我们确定了今后五年的三个主要目标：1.创建可以喷墨打印到纸张上的生物墨水。它们是由三种成分制成的：（1）一种将墨水保持在纸纤维内的颗粒，（2）一种从颗粒延伸出来的连接剂，它能“感应”目标的存在。接头连接到充当信标的（3）酶。如果目标存在，则接头被分解并且酶被释放，移动到纸条的区域，在该区域中通过纸中的颜色变化来揭示其存在。2.纸是高度多孔的，分子，如生物墨水中的酶，可以被“粘”在纸上，根本不能移动。我们将借用生物医学领域的策略，对纸张表面进行改性，防止纸张的非特异性结合，使分子在纸张中自由运动。3.这项工作的第三个目标是修改纸张表面，使特定的分子被从污染的水中去除。我们将使用高通量的方法，类似于制药行业用来发现新药的方法，来确定这些修饰需要什么。这种低成本的专用吸附纸可用于偏远地区的净水。

Imagine having a strip of paper that when dipped in water indicates if it is safe for drinking. Paper sensors are important in developed countries (such as Canada), but critical in the Developing World. This Grant will help us answer some scientific questions bringing us closer to having paper strips deployed in the field. To this end, we established three main objectives for the next five years:1. Creation of bioinks that can be inkjet printed into paper. They are made using three components: (1) a particle to keeps the ink within the paper fibers, (2) a linker extending from the particle that "senses" the presence of the target. The linker is connected to an (3) enzyme that serves as a beacon. If the target is present, the linker is disassembled and the enzyme is released, moving to a zone of the paper strip where its presence is revealed through a change of color in the paper. 2. Paper is highly porous and molecules, such as the enzyme from the bioink, can become "stuck" on the paper and not move at all. We will borrow strategies used in the biomedical field to modify the surface of paper to prevent non-specific binding to paper, allowing free movement of molecules in the paper.3. The third objective of this work is to modify paper surfaces to allow specific molecules to be removed from contaminated water. We will use high-throughput methods, similar to those employed by the pharmaceutical industry to discover new drugs, to identify what these modifications need to be. Such low cost, specific adsorbing papers can be used to clean water in remote locations.