Media Advisory: Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network - Canadian university
researchers and industrial partners print biosensors on paper to rapidly
detect toxins

TORONTO , Oct. 16 /CNW/ - Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network, in conjunction with its annual scientific conference, will host a media demonstration highlighting Canadian developed bioactive paper sensors using printing technology developed by one of their industrial partners FUJIFILM Dimatix. This innovation effort now produces in-lab bioactive paper sensors that can detect miniscule quantities of pesticides found in food and beverage samples. The in-lab biosensor cost is less than 25cents CAD.

The media demonstration will be held on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 , from 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. ET at the Delta Chelsea Hotel, 33 Gerrard St. West, Toronto in the Rossetti room. Dr. John Brennan , Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network member and his McMaster University team, will demonstrate, discuss and answer questions about the bioactive paper sensor's next stages of testing, commercialization and how the sensors have global-health relevance.

The demonstration will showcase how the simple, portable and cost-effective bioactive paper sensors are produced and show the colour-changing sensors displaying the presence of organophosphate pesticides and other acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors. The paper sensors can detect pesticides within five minutes in samples like milk, lettuce and apple juice. The sensor has a shelf-life of at least one month and can be stored at room temperature. Future applications for the biosensors include point-of-care medical diagnostics, food and water-borne pathogen detection and bioterrorism agents.

The DMP-2800 Dimatix Materials Printer is a turnkey, bench-top materials deposition system that leverages FUJIFILM Dimatix's industry-leading inkjet technology silicon MEMS fabrication processes in depositing picoliter-sized droplets of functional fluids on all types of surfaces. The DMP is suitable for prototyping and low-volume manufacturing, and the technology is scalable from R&D to production.

The journal paper supporting this demonstration currently appears in Analytical Chemistry in ASAP mode (articles edited and published online ahead of print) at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ac901714h?prevSearch=Reagentless&searchHistoryKey= .

"Bioactive paper strips can detect a range of biohazards that affect animals and humans worldwide," said Dr. Brennan . "Banned organophosphates are actively used in the developing world for spraying agricultural crops. Our sensors have the potential to provide rapid testing for organophosphates in the field."

Audio recording of the demonstration will be archived through WebEx. B-roll footage of demonstrations within a secured lab setting will be available in high-definition Blue-ray disc for broadcast journalists.

Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network represents 11 Canadian universities, industry and government partners. Sentinel was formed in 2005 with $8.5-million in funding over five years from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada . Another $2.5-million has been contributed by industrial partners and the Ontario Centres of Excellence. McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario hosts SENTINEL's administrative centre.

For further information: Media please RSVP, and for more information contact: Jill Wright, communications for Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network, [phone], [email protected]