A US scientist is using palladium and platinum electrodes on computer chips to enable to him to build up banks of molecules and monitor the way in which they behave more efficiently.

It is hoped that the method, which enables Kevin Moeller of Washington University to monitor up to 12,000 molecules in real time, will shed new light on the conditions needed for binding receptors.

The chief advantage of Professor Moeller's employment of electrochemical chips is that it does away with the need to wash receptors, which the traditional method of treating molecules with receptors necessitated.

In so doing, this means that there is less chance of receptors being removed during the process, in the event that they have not bound sufficiently strongly to a molecule.

Commenting on the potential for his method, Mr Moeller told Washington University.com: "We believe we can move most of modern synthetic organic chemistry to this electrochemically addressable chip. In this way, a wide variety of molecules can be generated and then probed for their biological behaviour in real-time .It's a tool, still being developed, to map receptors. We're right at the cusp of things."

Further to this Dr Moeller confirmed: "The electrodes on the chips that we use are platinum. In addition, the counterelectrode used is a platinum wire."

Source:

Technique monitors thousands of molecules simultaneously,01/05/07
http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/9360.html

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